Power bills issued as per consumption, clarifies CESC

• Complaints of incorrect billing may be registered with Helpline No. 1912 or at respective Sub-division Offices
• No disconnection of electricity connections till June 2020

Mysore/Mysuru: Following several complaints that Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) has been issuing excess or beyond the average power bills to domestic consumers, the State-run power company has clarified that it has issued bills only for the actual quantity of power consumption along with fixed charges.

In a press release, CESC Managing Director said that meter reading has not been done in March and April due to COVID-19 lockdown and following a Government Order, bills were issued based on the average consumption in the three preceding months of lockdown.

Due to the lockdown regulations, people are forced to stay indoors and naturally, power consumption has risen because of continuous use of various electrical appliances such as fans, coolers, refrigerators etc., he said. The officer added that due to work from home option provided by IT-BT companies that demand use of computers, which draw a considerable quantity of power. As such, it is but natural that power consumption rises by nearly 25 to 40 percent above the normal usage, he said.

Explaining the billing procedure, the MD said that power bills are raised as per unit slabs with varying charges. Maintaining that bills are issued based only on actual power consumption and there can be no excess billing, the press release said that complaints may be registered with Helpline No. 1912 in case of incorrect meter reading or wrong calculation of power unit slabs.

After verifying complaints, CESC will issue revised bills only if errors are found. Also, there may be chances that the pending bills are inadvertently added to the present one even if paid earlier online. However, consumers can call Helpline No.1912 or visit their respective Sub-division Office for rectification of any errors found in the bill.

Consumers can pay bills only after getting their doubts clarified regarding excess billing. Also, following a Government Order, CESC will not disconnect power supply to consumers even in case of default on payment of bills due till June 2020, the release said.