Over the rising resentment among the domestic consumers of various discoms including Adani Mumbai Electricity for sending hefty power bills in June, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kandarp Patel and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kapil Sharma told the media that they are trying to resolve the complaints raised by their customers. While it also asserted that the power consumption of household has increased by 50 per cent during lockdown.
"Usually the consumption on an average in summer season increases by 30 per cent as compared to winter. However, this summer there was also a complete lockdown, people were confined to their houses due to COVID therefore, the consumption has gone up by 20 per cent over and above. The bills have been charged only on the units of power the household used, no additional cost has been imposed," said the CEO and COO.
The statement was made in a press conference that was held via a conference call with various media representatives by the Adani Mumbai Electricity on Monday evening.
Meanwhile the CEO also expressed his displeasure over actor Harshad Warsi's taunting remark on power bill that he received from Adani electricity, stating it as a derogatory and immature remark.
Recently, Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi took to his Twitter handle to react to the hiked electricity bill he received. The actor tweeted that Rs. 1.03 lacs debited from his account for electricity this month and now to cover the expense he is planning to sell his painting and save his kidneys for the next bill.
The Adani further informed that before lockdown the number of customers who did not pay bill was 2.5 lakh, which went up by an additional 7.7 lakh. However, in June 3.5 lakh customers cleared their bills. As still several customers have not paid their bills, Adani's revenue collection has been severely affected and the payments that are to be received is amounting to Rs 750 crore. "Despite a dip in the revenue collection there was no power disruption. The service was provided 24x7 without causing any hardship to customers," said Patel.
In a bid to resolve the grievance of consumers over hefty power bills the Adani has set up dedicated helpline numbers. Moreover, it is also conducting video call mechanism if at all the customers are not satisfied and wish to talk with higher designated officials. The CEO said, "We are planning to go fully digital in near future. Like for instance the complaints and queries will be addressed via video calls. One has to book an appointment and the officials via webinars will address the issue. This will ensure zero footfall at our centres."
He also asserted that to prevent complaints over power bills, many arguing that they have been wrongly charged, households will get smart metres soon. Customers will get details of their consumption and understand their bills easily. It aims to convert all consumer’s metres into smart metres in next five years time period. It has already called tenders for same.
