A surge in inflated electricity bills has plagued consumers across India this year owing to a number of factors, including scorching heat and technical glitches. The latest shock comes from Gujarat, where a family received the electricity bill not in thousands but lakhs of rupees. Yes, you read that right!
The family of four was left dumbfounded after receiving a staggering electricity bill of Rs 20 lakh for June-July 2024. Despite using only basic appliances like fans, lights, a refrigerator, and a television, Panktiben Patel, who works at a petrol pump, was served the fat electricity bill by the South Gujarat Power Company, reported India Today.
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Patel explained to the outlet that three members of the family are employed and are not at home during the day. “We have four bulbs, four fans, a fridge, and a TV. Three of us are out working all day,” Patel told the outlet.
She added, “We always pay our bills on time, and this error has caused us significant distress.”
After receiving the astronomical bill, the family contacted the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB). They were initially asked to file a formal complaint in the matter and pay a fee. Their ordeal ended after a GEB official reviewed the case and swiftly identified a meter reading error as the cause of the inflated bill. The family, as per the outlet, received the corrected bill within an hour.
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This, however, is not the first time that a household received an inflated bill for using basic electrical appliances. A family living in a kutcha house with a tin shade in Uttar Pradesh received an electricity bill of ₹3.9 lakh. The family did not receive any bill for four to five months. When a family member contacted the electricity department, he was served an unusually high bill. An official aware of the matter said that the inflated bill was due to a technical glitch and it would be fixed soon.
“Due to the changes made to the server of Kesco, some of the electricity meters have developed technical fault, due to which correct data could not be registered,” Srikant Rangeela, media in-charge of Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (Kesco), told India Today in July this year.
