ANANTAPUR: K Nagamma, a daily labourer, was shocked on seeing the monthly power bill for her thatched house in Kanekal on Wednesday. The power bill for the small house located near the Zilla Parishad Boys High School in the mandal headquarters was a whopping Rs 1,49,034. The only electrical appliances in the house are a fan and a TV, besides a tube-light. Normally, her monthly power bill does not cross Rs 100.
"I used to get a power bill of around Rs 100 month. The components of the bill include Rs 50 as minimum charges, Rs 25 as customer charges and another Rs 25 as late fee surcharge. But, the arrears from April to December in the bill were shown as Rs 1,48,934. Even if I have not paid the power tariff for the past seven months in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, it should not be more than Rs 1,000," Nagamma lamented.
When the issue was taken to the notice of AP Transco Assistant Engineer Srinivas Reddy, he attributed the excess billing to technical glitch. "We will resolve the matter if the consumer brings the power bill to us. Once the matter is resolved, the consumer will get normal bill like earlier," he said.