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Gayathri Thakoor, Mulund
Even as consumers are reeling under the burden of the heavy electricity bills for the time period between May and July, it has taken no less than the executive engineer, Pradeep S Nichat, from MSED’s Mulund division, to convince them to pay their bills.
The payment date being long overdue, several residents from Mulund west , got a little agitated over the counter officials’ demand for payment, on Tuesday, September 6, early this week. “When the MSED counter officials actually warned them that their power supply would be cut off, 15 such consumers decided to come together and march straight to Nichat,” informs Harshad Desai, an advocate and a social worker.
Mulund Plus had reported in its previous issues about this billing problem and how several residents had complained to the electricity cell. Taking a cue, Desai says, “We were informed about the billing problem after following up with Mulund Plus reports and so we consumers decided to take the matter straight to Nichat, to get some solutions.”
Nichat confirms, “Yes, they had to be convinced about the same two reasons being, added fuel charge and actual consumption in that period. However, considering their situation, especially, people living in slum areas such as Indira Nagar, they were allowed 2 - 3 instalments through which they could make their current bill payments.”
Residents of Gaurav Enclave Co-operative Housing Society on Nahur Village Road, had brought their `hiked-up’ bills to show Nichat, claiming that all the residents had double the normal amount in their bills. Moreover, they allege that this could also be due to the faulty electronic meters installed after removing the reasonably working old meters. A problem that residents of Mulund east also agree with is that while taking away the old meter, the last meter reading was not intimated to the consumer, before the bill was averaged.
“Nichat had agreed to scrutinise such bills in comparison to the older ones and has instructed his team to keep a check on the meter readings that are now being recorded,” says Desai. Besides, to make matters simpler, Nichat is introducing monthly electric bills unlike the bi-monthly bills previously, so that the exact amount of consumption in the specific time period will be brought to the consumer’s notice immediately. “The meter readings that are taken now, will reflect in this month’s bill, and you will notice the change soon,” Nichat hopes.
Complaints attended to, the executive engineer now wanted the consumers’ help. “He really appealed to the consumers to co-operate and help detect power theft,” observes Desai. The MSED would appreciate information about such consumers even if the informant wouldn’t want to give away his identity. Nichat is sincerely trying to track down this case after having received several complaints from R R T Road, Indira Nagar and Indira Colony, in Mulund west and parts of Gawanpada in Mulund east.
The next few monthly electric bills will hopefully have more positive stories to tell.
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