Postpone power bill payment till June, demand Noida residents

City residents wrote a letter to the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday, demanding the postponement of electricity bill payment till June-end, 2020, due to the nationwide

City residents wrote a letter to the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday, demanding the postponement of electricity bill payment till June-end, 2020, due to the nationwide lockdown in view of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis. They said there are at least 60% consumers who cannot pay online or are unable to make the payment.

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“The electricity bill based on March’s consumption is due and has been sent to respective customers. Soon, the bill for the month of April will be sent to consumers. Only a few customers have been able to pay the bill online. At least 60% of customers, who are not paying online, are unable to process their bills. If the nationwide lockdown extends then payment of bills will not be possible. Therefore, we have requested the government to postpone the payment of electricity bills till June 30, 2020 for the ease of such customers,” said retired Brigadier Ashok Hak, convenor of the Noida chapter of confederation of Delhi-NCR residents’ welfare associations (CONRWA), a residents’ group.

CONRWA said that the payment of electricity bill is not only an issue with residents but also with daily wage labourers, who are living on rent, small shopkeepers and other small traders, whose businesses are shut.

“Due to the nationwide lockdown all kinds of economic activities are shut. As a result there is a liquidity crisis that is troubling every section. It will be useful if the state government extend the payment of electricity bills till June 30, 2020 to provide ease to customers in Noida,” said PS Jain president of CONRWA.

There are 3.5 lakh total customers in Noida who get electricity supply from Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited (PVVNL). And the payment of bills has been affected due to lockdown said officials of PVVNL.

“Our 65% customers pay online bills generally and after the lockdown started we are encouraging all our customers to pay the bills online to avoid any hassle. However due to lockdown the payment has been affected. We do not have any communication about postponement of bills from the state government. Such a decision on this can be taken by the government only,” said VN Singh, chief engineer, PVVNL.