Mumbai: Amid the hue and cry over the inflated electricity bills, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) to expeditiously deal with the complaints filed by citizens against the exorbitant amounts charged towards their bills.
The bench of Justices Prasanna Varale and Milind Jadhav was seized with two PILs highlighting the inflated bills received by consumers.
One of the petitioners told the judges that the bill he received was at least 10 times higher than the usual amounts he is charged. He further argued the inflated bills have multiplied the woes of citizens during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The PILs sought a directive to the MSEDCL to let citizens not pay the bills at least till the matter is decided finally by the HC.
The demand was vehemently opposed by MSEDCL counsel Deepa Chavan, who apprised the judges of the fact that the electricity body was already dealing with the grievances of the consumers regarding high bills.
"But in most cases, the amounts charged are correct. In fact, we already have come up with a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism go dealing with the complaints of our consumers regarding high amount bills," Chavan told the judges.
Further addressing the bench through video conferencing, Chavan told the judges that the issue of inflated bills cropped up as the MSEDCL and other electricity providers did not conduct the usual meter reading during the lockdown period. She further said that the meter reading was done only in June and the bills presented to all the consumers was a combination of three months.
Having considered the submissions, the judges noted that the petitioners approached the HC within four days of filing a complaint with the MSEDCL. "Thus, we are of the opinion that the petitioners should again approach the MSEDCL and agitate their grievance. The power company shall then look into the complaints and decide it at the earliest," the judges ordered.
