Who wants to be a millionaire? Not Bescom

Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) needs help with maths—from May to September this year, it has miscalculated bills to the extent of lakhs of rupees.

Recently, the power utility issued a bill of Rs9 lakh to a customer, saying it had undercalculated the bill for the past six months. When the customer—Sipani Fibers Ltd, which manufactures gunny bags in Koramangala—applied for verification of the bill, it was revised to Rs30 lakh. The owners of the company are in a shock.

Representing the company, advocate Delvi said it had opted for Time of Day (ToD) meters in May this year. Under this scheme, the customer gets electricity at a cheaper rate from 9pm to 6am, normal rate from 6am to 6pm and higher rate from 6pm to 9pm.

Amar Bhatia, director of the company, said they got a bill of Rs18.3 lakh for May, the first bill after the ToD meter was installed. He said the bill went on increasing in the next months and then they realised that something was fishy. “The calculations were all wrong,” he said.

Delvi said the difference in the actual bill and the bill served was Rs37,338 for May. In June, it was Rs50,047, in July it was Rs2.51 lakh and in August it was Rs1.32 lakh. In September, he said, the difference was of Rs1.93 lakh.

Bhatia said the Bescom had done a similar goof-up one year ago. It had miscalculated the bill of its Kolar unit and had later sent the ‘correct’ bill, asking for interest too. “I was in for a shock! They make the mistake and I pay for it,” he said. When a consumer pays the bill late, Bescom charges 1% interest over the bill. Bhatia noted that the power utility does not pay any money when it is their mistake. “Are we not the same in the eyes of law? It is unfair and unjustified,” he said.