This year, consumers across India have been grappling with an unexpected surge in electricity bills, driven by a combination of intense heatwaves and technical glitches. The latest and most shocking incident comes from Gujarat, where a family received an electricity bill not in the expected range of thousands, but a staggering Rs 20 lakh for the June-July 2024 billing cycle.
The Patel family, a modest household of four, was left in disbelief after receiving this astronomical bill from the South Gujarat Power Company. Their routine use of basic electrical appliances—such as fans, lights, a refrigerator, and a television—could hardly justify such an enormous charge. Panktiben Patel, who works at a petrol pump, recounted her shock and confusion in an interview with India Today.
“We have four bulbs, four fans, a fridge, and a TV. Three of us are out working all day,” Patel explained. Despite their modest electricity consumption, the family was served with a bill that was beyond comprehension. “We always pay our bills on time, and this error has caused us significant distress,” she added, highlighting the impact this mistake had on their lives.
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Upon receiving the inflated bill, the Patel family immediately contacted the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) to rectify the issue. Initially, they were asked to file a formal complaint and pay a fee to address the discrepancy. However, their ordeal was short-lived. A GEB official quickly reviewed the situation and identified a meter reading error as the source of the inflated bill. Within an hour, the family received a corrected bill, much to their relief.
Unfortunately, the Patels’ experience is not an isolated incident. Across India, there have been multiple reports of families receiving inflated electricity bills due to similar technical glitches. For instance, in Uttar Pradesh, a family residing in a kutcha house with a tin roof was shocked to receive an electricity bill of ₹3.9 lakh. This family had not received any bills for several months, and when they finally contacted the electricity department, they were hit with an exorbitant charge. An official familiar with the case attributed the inflated bill to a technical error and assured the family that it would be corrected soon.
Srikant Rangeela, media in-charge of the Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (Kesco), shed light on the root cause of these issues. “Due to the changes made to the server of Kesco, some of the electricity meters have developed technical faults, due to which correct data could not be registered,” Rangeela explained to India Today in July. These server changes and subsequent meter malfunctions have caused widespread billing errors, leading to considerable distress among consumers.
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