State Power minister gets electricity bill of 11K, says it's abnormal

Kolkata: State power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay has received an electricity bill of Rs 11,000 from the CESC for the month of June which he found 'abnormal'. The minister on Thursday claimed that he had received complaints from other consumers who had also spoken about the 'unusual' billing. He has also spoken to a senior CESC official seeking clarification.

A resident of Bhawanipore, Chattopadhyay said: "We have received an electricity bill of Rs 11,000 for June. We normally get a bill of Rs 7,000-8,000 for a month. Hence we find this bill slightly abnormal. Many other consumers have raised their complaints. They (CESC) could not take any meter reading for the past two months due to lockdown," Chattopadhyay said.

A senior CESC official said: "No physical meter reading occurred during lockdown and hence low provisional billing was done during that period so that the consumers do not face difficulties. The bill was finally prepared on an average basis of the bills in the past six months. During winter months the consumption level was low. This

is why the actual meter reading may appear high. The consumers can however pay the bills

in three installments so

that they do not face any

problems. Even the due date of bill payment has been deferred."