Mescom shocker: Domestic consumer in Sagara gets electricity bill for Rs 80k!

Team Udayavani, Aug 7, 2023, 8:50 PM IST

Sagara: A domestic electricity consumer here was in for a rude shock as he erroneously got bill for a whopping Rs 80,784 for one month, even as the state government rolled out the Gruha Jyothi scheme of free electricity to households.

Sridhar Bhat of Kogod near Sirivanthe under Khandika gram panchayat limits was shocked to find an outstanding bill for Rs 80,784. Ironically, he has also successfully registered for the government’s Gruha Jyothi scheme.

The gaffe was revealed when Sridhar Bhat’s son Pawan Kagodu checked the bill online as the bill which was usually received on August 3 of every month was not delivered on time.

Bhat depends on solar electricity for most of his electricity needs and usually gets charged for 30 to 40 units of electricity drawn from the grid.  However, the bill for the month of July and August 2023 showed the electricity consumption at staggering 9982 units. After deducting a discount of Rs 2994, the net bill was tallied at Rs 80,784.

Ramaswamy Kalasavalli of the Sagar Consumers’ Forum opined that the error may have occurred while entering the meter reading. The previous meter reading shows 6652. The current month’s reading is entered as 6634, which is lower than the previous month’s reading. The system must have calculated the units from 6652 to 9999 units and then from 0 to 6634. Therefore, 9982 units of usage have been shown, he reasoned.