Chhatisgarh July 3 : In a major instance of slackness in power distribution companies, a poor woman who works as a domestic help has been slapped with a Rs 2.5 lakh electricity bill in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh.<\/p>\n
Rambai Prajapati, the 65-year-old domestic help who lives in a shanty has been given Rs 2.5 electricity bill by last month.<\/p>\n
The elderly woman is now making rounds at the local electricity office with correction pleas but none is paying any heed. The old woman claimed that she daily waits for the officers under a tree outside the office but none listened to her.<\/p>\n
Speaking to News18 , the woman said, ‘I am living in a shanty for several years and have a bulb and a table fan.” She received a monthly electricity bill of around 300-500 but due to lockdown she could not pay the bill, and the last bill she received was no less than a shock as it amounted to around 2.47 lakh.<\/p>\n
‘I survive by working as a domestic help in households and only use an electric bulb and a table fan, I have no idea how I got this hefty bill,” said the clueless woman.<\/p>\n
The woman said she had approached public representatives and even the Guna collector but none offered her any solution.<\/p>\n
The senior officers of the power distribution company declined to speak on record when approached by News18.<\/p>\n
A day ago, the MP Power Regulatory Commission has revised power rates in the state by around 0.63%. The commission has offered respite to the consumers by not hiking power tariff but fixed charges have been enhanced from Re 1 to Rs 8. The power distribution companies had demanded a hike of 6.23% but the commission did not allow this presumably due to the approaching civic body polls in the state.<\/p>\n