A spokesperson for the power utility said the bill has now been corrected to nearly Rs 85,000.

Babu John, an industrialist from Pune district, received the shock of his life when he got an electricity bill of nearly Rs 80 crore for the month of May. After he complained to the MSEDCL about the exorbitant amount, the power utility gave him a corrected bill of around Rs 85,000.

John, who runs a small-scale industry with another partner in Bhosari-Indrayani Nagar, said before the lockdown, they used to get a bill of Rs 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh every month. “But this bill shocked us… we immediately lodged a complaint with MSEDCL,” he said.

As per the bill, the amount payable by John was Rs 79,07,06,190 by the due date of June 29. A MSEDCL official said the bills given to consumers and industrialists are thoroughly checked before they are put on the website or sent to the consumers. “In this instance, the bill amount was found to be abnormal. Therefore, during our computerised validation process, we had corrected the bill. But instead of the correct bill reaching the consumer, the earlier incorrect bill was sent”.

A spokesperson for the power utility said the bill has now been corrected to nearly Rs 85,000.