Faulty bill reason: Meters sometimes too high to read

GURGAON: Days after TOI highlighted the grievances of Sector 56 residents, who claimed they had received inflated power bills in October, DHBVN has stated that consumers facing such problems must approach the office of their local DHBVN sub-divisional officer (SDOs) to avail a fresh bill with correct payable amount, which they can then pay up.

Acknowledging the problem, K C Aggarwal, superintendent engineer of the discom's New Gurgaon Circle, said DHBVN will rectify the issue swiftly. "It's been brought to my notice that there are many such cases. Consumers must approach their respective SDO's office and display photos of their power meters. Our staff will re-read the meters based on these photos, and issue new bills with correct amounts mentioned," he said.

Aggarwal added that otherwise, meter reading work by their staff was working out fine. Having outsourced the meter reading work to private agencies for long, this year, DHBVN has asked its own staff to read meters for the first time in over a decade.

Soon after, on October 19, TOI reported that many consumers had alleged they had received "inflated" bills. Residents who made the allegation said their bills have been inflated by as much as 90%. Defending the discom staff, Aggarwal said they weren't at fault as some meters are placed high up on electricity poles outside houses, making them inaccessible and difficult to read, especially when there is sunlight falling directly on the reader's eyes as he looks up to take the reading. He also said action was being taken so that by the next billing cycle, all such meters on poles are shifted to accessible locations.

The South City SDO, Dharam Singh, said at best there are 20-30 cases of incorrect billing in his subdivision, which includes Sector 56, from where TOI had received the maximum complaints.

Residents, meanwhile, expressed their unhappiness at being asked to visit the SDO office. "This is not a practical solution," said Sudhir Bhardwaj, RWA president, Sector 56. "There are at least 400 consumers who received such inflated bills. If all of them land up at the SDO's office at the same time, what with the deadline on October 24, there will be a huge queue there on Tuesday. How will the discom entertain all the consumers, and rectify and issue new bills, before we can even pay the correct amounts?" he asked.

The latest billing debacle follows close on the heels of another case of inflated bills just some months ago, when its meter reading agency was found to be at fault and its contract withdrawn.