Inflated bills, zero bills, PSPCL doing it all wrong

In the latest foul-up, PSPCL has served zero amount bills to 460 industrial and commercial consumers in Mohali, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts

There’s no end to complaints about goof-ups by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

The zero amount power bills have left industrial and commercial consumers puzzled. (Biswajit Debnath/HT)

After complaints of inflated and delayed power bills by domestic consumers, now PSPCL has served zero amount bills to 460 industrial and commercial category consumers in Mohali, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts.

With the Punjab government announcing 300 free units per month only for domestic consumers, industrial and commercial consumers have been left puzzled and have been forced to make the rounds of PSPCL offices to get them rectified, lest they receive penalties for late payment.

PSPCL attributed its blunder to a technical glitch, but had no word on why it was not corrected before the bills were delivered. “The zero amount bills were issued due to some snag, but our staff is already on the job to rectify it. The consumers will soon receive updated bills through e-mail and SMS,” said Ravinder Singh Saini, chief engineer, information technology, PSPCL.

Earlier, domestic consumers had reported receipt of inflated and incorrect bills, with their complaints on PSPCL’s “consumer-friendly” mobile app evoking no response for weeks.

A senior PSPCL official, however, assured that all complaints were being addressed by the appropriate personnel, and any complaints regarding bills can be submitted with the SDO office concerned.

There are nearly 3.5 lakh power consumers in Mohali district alone, of which 3 lakh fall in the domestic category, and remaining in industrial and commercial.

Meanwhile, the corporation is working on updating its software to ensure correct bills are issued post July when domestic consumers start getting the benefit of the free 300 units per month, as announced by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann.

“We are in the process of updating the software for implementation of the government directions regarding free power to domestic consumers and hopefully, it will be done soon,” said the official.