The city's women wing of the Congress party, on Friday, protested against the hike in electricity bills after Adani Power took over electricity distribution in the Western suburbs. The protest was also against the spike in the price of LPG cylinders. Women party-workers gathered outside 15 suburban railway stations to magnify the message throughout the city.
"I received calls from the residents about inflated bills after Gautam Adani took over electricity distribution in parts of the city. In one and half months, ever since the Adani company took over, bills have multiplied by 1.5 times. Apart from that, there are issues in the metre-reading and billing system, the consumption of units have inflated all of a sudden," said Sanjay Nirupam, city's Congress Chief.
Maqsood Alam, a resident of Ambedkar Chowk in Goregaon east, received a bill of Rs 3,900 when his usual bill amount is around Rs 1,800. "I went to the Adani company's office, and they just wasted my time by asking me to visit different officers and later, I was told that they were just following orders as the government had increased rates. In that case, the government should reduce its taxes. The prices were already high even when Reliance was in charge but, it has been really steep after Adani took over," said Alam.
While the opposition stirred power protests on city streets, social media outrage over the issue also continued.
"In summer months, when my AC usage is at its highest, my bill is around Rs 1,600, however, this month without using AC my bill amounts to Rs 2,000. My neighbour's bill was also inflated this time," said Harshada Sakre, a resident of Borivali east.
Adani Power supplies power to the Western suburbs and other companies including Tata Power, BEST and state-owned MSEDCL supply power to other parts of the city. " This is just a symbolic protest, if the inflated bills are not taken back by Adani and if the tariffs are not revised then, we will conduct further protests and ensure that Adani Power leaves this city," warned Nirupam.