BESCOM clarifies the queries on exaggeration of electricity bills

Bengaluru: The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) started issuing bills this week after taking a month gap, which made the city residents question whether their electricity bills had been exaggerated.

Due to the lockdown, officials could not take metre readings in the month of April, and bills were generated based on the average electricity usage of the customer for the previous three months.

For the bill in May, the metre readings were resumed which made residents to pay for the electricity used in March and April. After several questions raised by the residents, officials declared that there have been no changes in the tariffs.

Like the other electricity suppliers in the country, BESCOM charges different tariffs based on usage to incentivise lower consumption. Aside from fixed charges and other additions, domestic users in Bengaluru pay Rs 3.75/unit for the first 30 units, Rs 5.20/unit for the next 31-100 units and Rs 6.75/unit for the next 101-200. Rs 7.8/unit are for subsequent usages in a month.

For the calculation of two months bill, BESCOM approximately doubled the slabs to 1-61, 61-203 and so on. Which means, Rs 3.75/unit is being charged for use of 1 to 61 units, and so on.

The utility company reasoned that the consumption of electricity will be higher in the lockdown as many customers are staying in the home. They also said that the arrival of summer, as well as increased usage of computers and laptops for those who work from home, will also be added to the domestic power usage.

In a detailed statement, BESCOM said, "In domestic category, due to various reasons including an increase in the use of fans, ACs, and as many of the IT and BT (Information and Bio-technology) as well as other sector personnel are working from home, the maximum demand reading and consumption has gone slightly higher in the month of April. Consequently, the metre reading done in the month of May has been high for the domestic category."It also added, "The unpaid amount of the April month has been added resulting in a higher amount. BESCOM categorically makes it clear that all rationales have been followed while calculating the electricity bills."

In case consumers still feel that the bill charged is higher than the actual consumption, BESCOM also kept a toll-free number 1912 available and requested to call in case of any queries.