Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has been flooded with complaints on exorbitant power bills and anomalies in billing. Though the board reiterates that these complaints have been resolved, the consumers continue to contest the claim.
The board authorities have said that they have directed the assistant engineers to immediately resolve such complaints on billing anomalies. There have also been complaints of consumers slapped with power bills four times more than the normal.
The COVID effect on power bill
The KSEB has refuted the charges that the bill of 2.5 months was given instead of two months.
The KSEB did not have permission to record metre reading from March 24 to April 20 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. When the process was resumed, the metre reading of several consumers could be taken only after 4-5 days.
The board authorities said that the bills, that were calculated based on more than 60 days of consumption, will be revised if the consumer files a complaint with the section office.
Also, a delayed metre reading due to the lockdown meant that the power tariff moved to the next slab. The board said that the bill amount is being revised in such cases as well.
Bill calculator soon
A bill calculator will be soon developed for consumers to clear any doubts regarding the power bill. The bill calculator will be made available on the KSEB's website and social media pages. The IT department has also been asked to provide technical support to prevent the recurrence of anomalies in the billing.
6.5% interest for deposits
The security deposits of the consumers with the KSEB will fetch an interest of 6.5 per cent. This amount will be deducted from the bill of June-July.
