Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has finally relented to persistent demands from consumers to modify the power bill following the intervention of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC). The bill will now be available in Malayalam as well as English. The new bill, which was introduced on a trial basis two months ago, would be issued to all consumers soon.
Another complaint of consumers related to the quality of the paper on which the bills are printed would also be addressed. The bills are currently printed on thermal paper, and the ink vanishes within a few days. However, the new bills would be issued on paper of better quality, and copies would be made available through links in SMS to the registered mobile numbers and emails of consumers. Bills could also be downloaded from KSEB’s mobile app and the portal wss.kseb.in with the consumer and mobile numbers. Moreover, the website should contain all the details regarding the bill.
Similarly, prosumers (consumers producing solar power) could learn exact figures related to the electricity they supply to the grid and their balance in the power bank every month, from the bill.
KSEB has also shifted the duty of carrying out the meter reading of solar prosumers from sub-engineers to meter readers, who work on contract. The remuneration for reading and issuing bills for a single net meter has been increased to a minimum of Rs 17.3 in urban and Rs 34.6 in rural areas. There would be five categories of this payment for meter readers.
