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Energy minister warns billing agencies against incorrect bills
Energy minister AK Sharma said here on Wednesday that repeated warnings had failed to improve the situation. Now, a last opportunity was being given to the billing agencies to mend their ways or face stern action.
Lucknow: Asking billing agencies to mend their ways, energy minister AK Sharma on Wednesday warned that stern action would be taken against them if consumers were harassed by sending incorrect bills to them.
Holding a meeting here, he also directed the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) management to encourage consumers to read their meters themselves and pay their bills accordingly. He said complaints about consumers getting wrong bills were being received regularly. Despite paying ₹15 crore to billing agencies annually, 50% of the bills were being issued incorrect. This situation, he said, was not acceptable.
“Repeated warnings have failed to improve the situation. Now, a last opportunity is being given to the billings agencies to mend their ways or face stern action,” Sharma warned. He said the government had zero tolerance about corruption and any laxity would be taken quite seriously.
The minister directed director, commercial, of all the discoms to monitor all the revised wrong bills of ₹1 lakh amount or more within three days and identify if there was a pattern in issuing wrong bills and then revising the same.
He asked the management to stamp out the practice of issuing bills arbitrarily by keeping a watch on the work of meter readers.
Additional chief secretary (energy) Mahesh Kumar Gupta pointed out in the meeting that 25% of the bills had monthly reading of less than 10 units. All such cases would be investigated. He directed billing agencies to launch a drive till November 30 to improve their work.
Smooth power supply on Diwali
People in Uttar Pradesh would get uninterrupted power supply during Diwali, energy minister AK Sharma said here on Wednesday.
“There will be no rostering from Dhan Teras to Diwali in the state as directed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” he said.
He said directions had been issued to the UPPCL in this regard. “Control rooms will also be set up by discoms to monitor supply and take prompt action on complaints about local faults,” he said.
