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HomeIndiaGovernanceTwo-member panel to probe Mumbai's complaints of inflated Adani Power bills

Two-member panel to probe Mumbai’s complaints of inflated Adani Power bills

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Political parties such as Congress, MNS and even BJP have accused Adani Power of arbitrarily hiking its tariff and burdening consumers.

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s electricity regulator Friday appointed a two-member committee to inquire into complaints of inflated power bills by residents of suburban Mumbai since Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) took charge of the distribution business.

The fact-finding panel will also recommend corrective steps. The two-member committee, to be headed by former bureaucrat Ajit Kumar Jain, will also have the power to study records and documents of other distribution utilities in Mumbai such as Tata Power, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, and the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) for a comparative study.

Anand Kulkarni, chairman of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), said the regulator had approved an average tariff hike of 0.24 per cent for AEML effective 1 September. “There are certain transgressions. In some cases, the bills have increased by 10-20 per cent,” Kulkarni said.

“The committee will look into the reasons. We will also monitor the bills to be issued between 10 December and 10 January,” he added.


Also read: Mumbai consumers cry foul over high Adani Power bills, state promises relief


The hike & the protest

AEML took over Reliance Infrastructure’s Mumbai energy business for Rs 18,800 crore, on 29 August and started supplying power to Mumbai’s suburbs.

The company has maintained that a there were several factors that coincided with Adani’s takeover of the business which shot up the bills. For five days in August, the company had to resort to average meter readings for bills as the employee union was on strike. This was followed by a marginal tariff hike as approved by MERC in September and a spurt in power consumption due to severe heat in October.

Politicians across parties such as the Congress, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena as well as the BJP have been voicing grievances on behalf of the consumers and have also made allegations of Adani Power arbitrarily hiking its tariff and burdening consumers.

“The commission prime facie feels that increase in billed consumption for October 2018 appears to be unduly high this year. It would need more detailed inquiry to verify the explanation of AEML,” the MERC said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the MERC has also issued certain directives to the company to give relief to affected consumers. This includes verifying metered consumption of consumers who have been billed significantly more, refunding excess bills with interest and organising special camps for addressing consumer complaints of excess billing.

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