1.5k factory owners in Kanpur served notice to pay decade-old power bills

The KESCo teams, accompanied by tehsil employees, issued notices to factories in Dada Nagar and Panki industrial estates to recover the pending power dues.

KANPUR As many as 1,518 industrialists have received recovery certificates from Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (KESCo). The ‘unpaid’ electricity bills for which RCs have been issued are 20-to-40 years old.

The ‘unpaid’ electricity bills for which RCs have been issued are 20-to-40 years old. (HT Photo)

The KESCo teams, accompanied by tehsil employees, issued notices to factories in Dada Nagar and Panki industrial estates to recover the pending power dues. In the process, an official team even disconnected the electricity of a factory that had a standing power bill of ₹1.24 lakh. It was pending for 24 years.

Vijay Kapoor, chairman of Dada Nagar industrial estate, said, “Is it not surprising that some of the bills are 40 years old? What was the electricity company doing all these years. The industrialists are being persecuted and misbehaved with. If the harassment goes on, owners will have to shut factories.” The RCs issued for unpaid dues range between ₹1.2 lakh and ₹5 lakh for the sanctioned load of 1 KW or 2 KW, added Kapoor.

Echoing a similar concern, Anil Jaiswal said that he is deeply disturbed as the KESCo team barged into his factory and disconnected the supply. “I got a 24-year-old bill that is not in my knowledge or that of the accounts department. The electricity supply was stopped in the middle of operations and 150 of my employees had to go home. The raw material in the machine were damaged,” he said, while adding, “I am a factory owner, not a criminal but the KESCo team treated me like one. I was setting up an extension unit keeping in mind the investors’ summit but now, I am having second thoughts.”

When asked on the issue, tehsildar (Sadar) Ritesh Kumar Singh said that KESCo issued RCs and the administration assisted with recovery. “Our team goes with KESCo employees, who disconnect the electricity connection in factories,” he said. On the other hand, the executive engineer of KESCo, RK Singh said, “The RCs are being issued throughout the city. We are looking into complaints.”

Meanwhile, the bodies representing the industries have reacted sharply to the issue and decided to take it up with the government. “The state government is leaving no stone unturned for the investors’ summit. However, the functional industrial units are being brought to a grinding halt. Industrialists have been paying the bills and inquiry needs to be ordered as to why KESCo woke up from slumber after decades,” said a senior office-bearer of a prominent body requesting anonymity.