Mangaluru’s Ullalbail-based Sadashiv Acharya’s hands were trembling when he saw his electricity bill of Rs 7.71 lakh for June. His case was unusual, and the billing has been considered an error by MESCOM.
However, the sharp increase in electricity bills in domestic households in Karnataka, at a time when the newly formed Congress government announced free electricity up to 200 units, has left residents perplexed, angry, and — in the case of Acharya — absolutely shocked.
News18 spoke to several residents across Bengaluru about the spike in their electricity bills. Some have received double the usual amount, while others have received negative billing.
Pooja, a resident of Northeast Bengaluru’s Horamavu, received an electricity bill that is double the amount she usually receives each month.
“It used to be around Rs 800 or so. This is Rs 1,500. When I inquired, I was told the rate per unit is now Rs 7, as against around Rs 3 earlier. My consumption is around 147 units, and the BESCOM officials said that since it is above 100 units, I will be charged at Rs 7 per unit. This is ridiculous,” she said.
Rajeev Subramanian’s household based in CV Ramanagar in east Bengaluru has been consuming around 201 units on average. They received a bill of Rs 2,200 for June, which is much higher than what they have received since January this year.
“The power outages have been high as well and now the power bill is almost double. We don’t get a proper explanation from the officials as to why there has been such a steep increase. We understand if it’s done gradually, maybe we can also account for it in our monthly expenses. But how many can actually afford it?” he questioned.
Another resident Shilpashree, who lives in HSR Layout, received a bill of Rs 3,028 that showed she had consumed 352 units of power. “I had read that power can become costly, but this spike needs an explanation from the government,” she said.
News18 spoke to officials at BESCOM to understand the high bills and how they are expected to reduce in July. Here is a simple explanation:
So, if a consumer was paying Rs 800 per month for around 140 units of power, why are they paying almost double now?
On May 12 this year, just after the election code of conduct was lifted as Karnataka was in election mode until May 10, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission approved the proposals made by electricity supply companies to hike the power prices by 70 paise per unit. The order issued stated that the new tariff was to be levied on the bills from June with retrospective effect from April.
Simply put, this means that the electricity bill for June includes the new power prices with arrears from April.
“This decision was taken soon after the election process was completed, before the formation of the Congress government and the new chief minister being sworn in on May 20. It was an order issued by the KERC and usually, such orders are not reversed. The newly revised tariff structure was to be made effective from April onwards and now reflects in the June bill,” explained a BESCOM officer.
The BESCOM official further explained that the FPPCA (Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment) charge of Rs 1.49 per unit, which was decided by the Centre, has also been levied from June and an additional Rs 1.81 per unit is being carried forward to July. This is done as per the Indian Electricity Act.
“A notification was issued by the Centre under FPCCA in December, which stated that the adjustment charge needs to be collected from the consumer with retrospective effect every month. Earlier, it was billed to the consumers every quarter. Now, since the Centre asked us to collect monthly, that also increases the bill rates by around Rs 1.06 paisa,” the official explained.
The state approached the Centre stating that it would prove to be a huge financial burden if consumers are charged with retrospective effect and sought six months.
“By doing this, we could bring down the rate to Rs 59 paise per unit. That will translate into another Rs 300-400 additionally in the June bill. From August, that billing will show negative in the electricity bills,” the officer said.
“Thus, there will be an overall increase in the tariff for June by Rs 2.89 per unit,” said the officer who did not want to be named.
There was another change where the energy consumption slabs, which were three earlier, have now been brought down to two. “Earlier, in the first slab, for those who consumed under 50 units, we charged Rs 4.75 paise per unit. The second slab included 50-100 units and those who fell in this category were charged Rs 5.15 paise. For those consuming above 100 units, we charged Rs 7.15 paisa.
“The KERC decided to create just two slabs from the previous three slabs due to the revised tariff — 0-100 units at Rs 4.75 paisa and above 100 units will be billed a flat Rs 7 per unit,” explained another senior official from BESCOM.
“This also came into effect in May this year, which is why consumers are seeing a huge surge in their power bills,” he added.
What will bring some cheer is the fact that in the coming months, all these charges will be negative, and the bills will be lower. “Once Griha Jyothi is implemented, those who have consumed up to 200 units will get a ‘NIL’ bill,” assured BESCOM officials.
Some consumers like Sharadha, a resident of Banaswadi, received a negative bill of Rs -111. She too finds herself in a fix. “I checked the portal, and my bill shows negative,” she points out.
BESCOM officials have acknowledged that the negative bills are a result of a software error, and many residents have received bill amounts that show -Rs 100 to -Rs 5,000.
“This is being swiftly resolved by issuing corrected bills to the affected customers,” confirmed a highly placed officer.
BESCOM also released a statement informing consumers who have found negative billing on the portal. The body also assured consumers not to panic since the billing has happened only for their actual consumption and the new tariff structure.
“There is no excess billing done and the billing system will be smooth without any glitches from July onwards. Electricity bills in online apps are showing negative amounts since June bills served to consumers are yet to be updated in the system. This issue will be resolved within two days,” said BESCOM.
Consumers can enter the amount mentioned in the physical copy of the bills and make their payments wherever the amount is not reflected. They can approach their nearest sub-division office or call the call centre 1912 if there are any discrepancies in their physical bill received, they clarified.
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