Power shocker! Hamirpur resident receives Rs 210-cr bill

After receiving a bill of Rs 210.42 by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL), Lalita Dhiman of Bhairwin Jattan village in the Bhoranj subdivision of the district was left shocked. The bill was issued on January 8. The power bill was issued for consumption of only 264 units of power.

As per the issued bill, the previous reading of the power meter stood at 24,047 units, while the latest reading was 24,311 units. Total consumption stood at 40,00,00,264 units, with the bill amount coming out to be Rs 245,40,01,696.34.

Interestingly, a subsidy of over Rs 30 crore and a night-time concession of about Rs 13.9 crore were applied to the bill. According to the original bill issued by the HPSEBL, the amount to be paid before the due date was Rs 210.42 crore. If the bill was to be paid after the due date, the amount was Rs 213,44,18,465.

HPSEBL Sub-Divisional Officer (Bhoranj) Pardeep Sharma said a wrongly calculated bill was sent to the consumer due to a software glitch. A corrected bill, amounting to Rs 4,046, was issued on January 9 to the consumer, he added.

The SDO said the matter was addressed immediately after it came to the notice of the board.

However, the change in the meter reading still remains a mystery. In the revised bill, the total consumption was 270 units and the most recent reading - on the same date as the previous bill - was changed from 24,311 to 24,317 units.

It is pertinent to note that power was being supplied for commercial purposes through the connection issued in Dhiman's name.