Copyright thehindu
A large number of residents across Chennai are being jolted by the latest bi-monthly electricity bills. Several consumers have complained that the charges are exorbitant at a time when the climate is rather pleasant. K. Shankar, who owns a flat on the 14th Street Extension of Kuberan Nagar at Madipakkam, said he had received a bill for ₹12,125 for consuming 1,600 units for 50 days. For more than 15 days, the house remained locked, he said. Several residents of Kuberan Nagar complained about assessors not visiting their houses regularly for reading the meters. Mr. Shankar’s neighbour whose flat remained unoccupied for a few months received a bill for ₹9,000. Similar inflated bills were sent to a famous multi-storey apartment complex having more than 1,000 flats at Anna Nagar. The flat-owners in the apartment complex received bills three or four times higher than the normal charges. The office-bearers of the apartment residents’ association submitted a representation to Electricity Department officials. Following this, the “inflated” bills were reassessed. An electricity department official in the West Circle said the root cause of this issue was that a section of assessors was indulging in what he called table-recording: not visiting the houses and reading the electricity meters bi-monthly. The official explained that when some other assessor visited the houses and recorded the actual consumption, the charges would skyrocket. Senior electricity officials pointed to a huge shortage of assessors, with the number of vacancies all over Tamil Nadu standing at 6,000. The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) is planning to install smart meters for automatisation of billing. A pilot project carried out with World Bank funding has been a success. But the smart meter project may take time. In the meantime, the vacancies for assessors should be filled, the official added. Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said the domestic consumers had already been forced to pay more after the tariff increase. It would be helpful if self-reading of meters was allowed until the smart meter project took off.
