Kolkata's power utility company CESC decides not to charge two month's arrears in current bill
KOLKATA: Amid protests over "exaggerated electricity bills for June in Kolkata, private power utility CESC has decided not to charge dues of April and May in current month's bill, a company official said on Sunday.
Many people have hit the streets in the last few days to voice their displeasure against "inflated" bills.
Even celebrities have vented their ire on social media against alleged exaggerated billing.
"In consideration of the inconvenience faced by a section of the society, we decided to keep in abeyance charging dues of the last two months included in the current bill of all low voltage domestic consumers," a CESC official said on Sunday.
The company earlier the latest bills reflect the charges of the current and previous two months when meter reading could not be taken due to lockdown.
West Bengal Power Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhaya had on Friday said CESC would have to justify the "exaggerated billing".
CESC vice-president (Distribution), Avijit Ghosh, had said that during the lockdown period, charges were arrived at after computing the average usage of the last six months.
But this way, the units consumed turned out to be "much lower" than the summer months, he had said.
CESC supplies electricity to Kolkata and the greater Kolkata region, while state-run power utility, the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL), caters to other districts.
The RP Sanjiv Goenka group company had also faced flak during post-cyclone Amphan restoration work for the time it took to restore supply in several areas of the city.