If you are a habitual procrastinator who would not pay bills until the last possible second, it's high time that you mend your ways. In a major crackdown against bill defaulters, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has asked the consumers to pay their electricity bill in the same month they receive it.

MSEDCL has undertaken this decision to recover power dues. It has decided not to wait until the end moment for the consumers to pay their bills. Moreover, it has also decided to do away with photometer reading from February 1. Henceforth, people will receive the reading through SMS.

Bill defaulters of Dombivali and Kalyan owe the electricity distributor over Rs 26 crores. Kalyan east accounts for the maximum dues with Rs 12 crore pending from 36,000 consumers. Next comes Kalyan west where 19,000 consumers owe dues to the tune of Rs 8 crore. Around 7,000 consumers owe Rs 6 crore in Dombivali area.

Keeping the amount of dues in mind, chief engineer of MSEDCL-Kalyan zone Rafiq Shaikh asked MSEDCL officials to pull up their socks. "Let's not wait till March to recover the dues and arrears," said Shaikh on Friday. He asked them to immediately work on the list of consumers given by the IT department and work towards recovery of arrears. "Ensure 100 per cent recovery of dues or disconnect power supply of defaulters," he said.

Moreover, from February 1 MSEDCL consumers across the state will not receive photometer reading. "Consumers with registered mobile numbers will get their readings through an SMS. If they have any queries regarding the reading, they can contact our nearest office or toll-free number for verification," said an official from MSEDCL.