After Taapsee Pannu, Vir Das and Dino Morea, more celebrities living in Mumbai have complained of inflated electricity bills for the month of June. On Monday, Huma Qureshi wrote in a tweet that she received a bill for Rs 50,000.
“What are these new electricity rates ?? @Adani_Elec_Mum. Last month I paid 6k .. and this month 50 k ????!!! What is this new price surge ?? Kindly enlighten us,” she wrote in a tweet. Hum Apke Hain Koun actor Renuka Shahane also complained, tweeting: “Dear @Adani_Elec_Mum I got a bill of Rs 5510/on the 9th of May while in June I got a bill of Rs 29,700 combining May & June where you’ve charged me Rs 18080 for the month of May. How did Rs.5510/become Rs.18080.”
Ranvir Shorey wrote: “The 21st century, a free market and a pandemic are apparently not enough for us to still be held to ransom by electric power companies like @Adani_Elec_Mum #scam #shame.”
Amyra Dastur wrote, “I freaking shifted to my mom and dad’s house in April! They’ve been charging my flat which I haven’t lived in for 3 months, double of what I would pay actually living there! Mine is best. Do you know how to stop this nonsense.”
The electricity provider said in a statement that the bills are so high as they are collecting arrears for the low rate charged in the last three months. “We have re-started physical meter reading which was temporarily halted since March because of Covid-19. Bills were generated on the lower side, being an average of preceding three months – that is, December, January and February, which are winter months. Actual consumption in the months of April, May and June is comparatively higher due to seasonal impact (summer) and increased usage (advent of Lockdown/WfH),” said a spokesperson of Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML).
“The bill amount for the past period shall be accounted as per Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) guidelines. The consumers will start receiving the bills based on their actual consumption with appropriate tariff slab benefits,” they added.
