BENGALURU: There have been many instances when electricity bills reach consumers late and within a few days, or sometimes, in a few hours power supply is disconnected or consumer is penalised for delay in bill payment.
To address these anomalies, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has issued orders to all electricity supply corporations (ESCOMs) to ensure that the exact date and time of when the bill was generated/issued be mentioned on the bills.
The new system will be applicable for the bills issued on or after June 1.
The order added: “The due date for payment shall be calculated from the date issuance of the bill and not from the originally scheduled billing date. Also, in all cases where a bill is issued after the prescribed billing date or beyond the approved billing periodicity, the licensee shall ensure that a minimum period of 15 days is allowed to consumer from the actual date of issuance of the bill for payment.
And, if the due date falls on a public holiday, the succeeding working day shall be treated as the due date for payment.” KERC Chairman P Ravi Kumar said there have been many instances where consumers approach the Commission with complaints against the electricity companies for delayed generation of bills and less time in hand to clear the dues.
He said the linemen do not read the bills on the scheduled dates. They come at later dates. Hence the orders have been issued that the date, the bills are read and issued, should be mentioned on the bills and from then on 15 days timeline starts. The BWSSB is following it and same should be done by the ESCOMs also, he added.