Electricity bills leave Hescom customers shocked

Hubballi: Owing to personnel from the electricity supply companies not permitted to entering homes to take the reading from the meters, the government asked the authorities to collect a sum that was the average of three months’ bills.
However, citizens were shocked when they beheld the amount that they were asked to pay. Many of them have taken to Twitter to decry the ‘loot’ by Hubballi Electricity Supply Company (Hescom). MP, a Twitter user from Bailhongal in Belagavi district, in his tweet, wherein he tagged @HubliHescom, complained that his bill was not the average, but the sum of two months’ bills. Tagging the Karnataka chief minister’s Twitter handle, @CMofKarnataka, he questioned the benefit that the residents had derived in paying their bills in advance, when they were being charged inflated rates.
Shambuprasad, another Twitter user, asked the CM to judge if demanding such hefty sums in electricity bills did not amount to a ‘scam’. He affirmed that he would not settle the bill unless Hescom clarified how it had arrived at the sum. “What arrears have Hescom officials added to the bill, and how are we to trust them?” he asked.
Venu G Soganadgi, another resident who took to social media to express his outrage at the exorbitant sum he had been asked to pay by Hescom, said, “On average, I paid a sum of Rs 1,000 in electricity bill per month. But this time, the sum was a staggering Rs 5,500. This is unreasonable even if the bill is for a period of two months.”
Hescom, however, has been responding to all complaints. “The bill reflects the sum of two months’ power consumption, and cancelling the last month’s average bill. Payments, if made in April, are also being considered. The method that Hescom has adopted to generate bills is in accordance with the rules. For more information, citizens can contact the sub-division office,” said a Hescom statement.
Veeresh Sharma, a businessman, opined that Hescom could have done the people a good turn by waiving charges during the lockdown.
However, there are those who have been asked to pay bills, the amount of which is slightly lower than what they pay, on average every month. “Each month, the electricity bill we were asked to pay came up to Rs 900, but it was less by Rs 50 this time around. We are worried about receiving a much higher amount in the coming months now,” said Amit Kulkarni, a tax consultant.