Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (EP)

Mangaluru, May 12: With lockdown rules relaxed in the district, day-to-day life of people is slowly coming back to normal. Along with normalcy, the general public is back to receiving bills and playing them off. People in Mangaluru had to suffer ‘electric shock’ when they were given electricity bills with huge fines.

After noticing overcharging in electricity bills, a number of consumers contacted Daijiworld media and expressed their helplessness in the lockdown period. Daijiworld TV discussed the issue on its programme News Talk on Monday May 11 and urged the elected representatives to clear the issue.

Soon after, on Tuesday, May 12, MLA U T Khader, MLC Ivan D’Souza put pressure on the district administration and MESCOM to revert its decision of penalising consumers. District in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary directed MESCOM to stop overcharging and levying fines on consumers up till the end of June. He also instructed MESCOM officials not to disconnect electricity supply over non- payment of bills. Moreover, they are asked not to impose fines for delayed payments. He said that the instructions are imposed by the state chief minister.

Earlier, Ivan D’Souza strongly condemned the burden put on consumers during lockdown time by MESCOM. MLC Harish Kumar too urged officials to stop the present billing policy at the earliest and rectify the error.

The officials explained the billing pattern and accepted error while generating bills through their system. They also assured appointment of sub division officials where consumers can discuss their issues and get solutions.