CM has ordered inquiry into complaints of excess power bills:

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule to look into complaints of excessive billing by Adani Electricity in Mumbai, a BJP legislator said.

The company said that higher bills were the result of seasonal change in electricity consumption patterns.

Local MLA Ashish Shelar said he met Fadnavis Saturday to convey people's concerns over sudden and steep increase in power bills in suburban Mumbai, where Adani Electricity is the electricity distributor.

"The chief minister immediately ordered the energy minister to conduct an inquiry," Shelar said.

Shelar demanded that an audit of past three months' billing process be carried out, and the company be asked to provide evidence that billing was based on actual meter reading and not on average consumption.

If there is excess billing, the money should be immediately refunded with interest, Shelar said.

The Legal Metrology Department should carry out random audit of electricity bills, and the government, on its own, should approach the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) over this issue, he demanded.

Adani Electricity, in a statement, justified higher bills for October and November saying that the city witnesses a change in climate during this period, resulting in a change in patterns of electricity consumption.

Its rates were as per the tariff determined by MERC, it said.

Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited is a subsidiary of Adani Transmission, formed after acquisition of Reliance Infrastructure's generation, transmission and distribution utilities in Mumbai.