Power consumer gets Rs 77 crore bill, 3 officials suspended

An electricity consumer in Faridabad has received a bill of over Rs 77 crore from Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam after which it suspended three officials today for issuing "an inflated erroneous bill".
The Nigam has suspended Vikram Singh, Sub-Divisional Officer, Bairam, Commercial Assistant and Pritam Singh, Lower Divisional Clerk with immediate effect "for issuing an inflated erroneous bill of about Rs 77 crore to a consumer of Faridabad," a spokesperson of the Nigam said.
The Nigam had issued clear directions that pre-audit of bills is important so that any error could be rectified before it is being issued to consumers, he added.

Criticising power department officials for issuing the "inflated bill" for the two-month period ending October 31, the consumer Jagpal said, he had been "regularly" paying his bills.
"The astronomical amount came as a shock to me and my family. When my mother came to know about it, she fainted and had to be given medical attention. If anything would have happened to her, who would have been responsible," he said.
Notably, this is not for the first time when consumers in Haryana have been issued inflated bills. A pan-seller in Gohana town in Sonipat district had got a bill of Rs 132 crore in October last year.