Refund people who got high power bills, MERC tells Adani

MUMBAI: The state’s electricity regulator, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), asked Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) to refund consumers who had complained of a sudden rise in their power bills over the past month. The regulator has also set-up a twomember fact-finding committee to find out why the bills were inflated.

AEML has been asked to refund the excess amount with an interest of 9% in the next billing cycle. “The commission, prima facie, feels the increase in billed consumption for October 2018 appears to be unduly high this year. It would need a more detailed inquiry to verify the explanation given by AEML,” MERC said.

The panel, of Ajit Kumar Jain, state chief information commissioner, and Vijay Sonawane, a former MERC member, is expected to suggest corrective steps to ensure bills do not rise again.

MERC said the panel will take around three months to submit its report.

“Until then, MERC has directed AEML to verify the meters of consumers who have been billed significantly higher and organise camps to address grievances,” MERC chairman, Anand Kulkarni, said.

“MERC will also overlook the billing process between December 10 and January 10, to ensure the amounts do not rise over tariff revision,” Kulkarni said.

In its mid-term review power prices, the regulator had approved an average tariff rise for the financial year 2018-19 of around 0.24%.

This came into effect from September 1, 2018.

“This could go up to a maximum of 3% to 4%, but there have been complaints of an over 20% rise,” Kulkarni said.

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