GUWAHATI, Dec 26: For many families of Arkatipur area in Assam’s Cachar district, it was like getting an electrical shock from the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL); something they will remember for their rest of life.
Slapped with exorbitant electricity bills, some amounting to many lakhs, there is simmering anger among the residents of this otherwise quiet locality.
It’s almost a nightmarish experience, akin to hell letting loose on them, since most families usually pay thousand-odd rupees for their electricity consumption.
This time, however, consumers received inflated bills with the power department asking them to pay anything from Rs 30,000 to Rs 3 lakh for a single month.
“It’s simply a maddening experience for us. Imagine what’s we are going though. A family who was paying Rs 800-1,000 till the past month has been slapped with tariff a bill amounting to Rs 2.50 lakh this time. We are not running any industry at our home,” said a consumer.
“I have received a bill of Rs 1.3 lakh as my power tariff for the past month. The last bill was for an amount of Rs 1,731. I have three ceiling fans and around 5-6 bulbs in my house. And since it is now winter, we are not using the fans. But they have asked me to pay more than a lakh,” another aggrieved consumer told News Live.
The crestfallen consumers alleged that APDCL officials have paid no heed to their complaints regarding the inflated bills.
A group of aggrieved consumers protested at the Udharbond APDCL Sub-division office today and threatened to approach the consumer forum if the power distributor did not address their concerns.
“Power department officials should look into the issue. How can they even send us such inflated bills? How can we pay such hefty amounts? Authorities must rectify their mistake,” another consumer told News Live.
