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Journalism of Courage
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company has warned of strict action if consumers (domestic/ commercial and industrial categories) in Western Maharashtra fail to pay their electricity bills. With arrears mounting up to Rs 332.79 crore, the power utility has embarked on a campaign to disconnect power supply of defaulters.
As many as 17.85 lakh consumers have failed to pay electricity bills, following which the utility has so far disconnected supply to more than 50,000 defaulters.
The highest sum to be recovered as arrears is from the Pune region which comprises Pune, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, and Kolhapur. Here, arrears amounting to Rs 221.63 crore have to be recovered from 15.86 lakh domestic consumers, while another 1.65 lakh commercial consumers owe arrears worth Rs 67.40 crore.
Taking stock of escalating arrears over the last three to four months, at a recent review meeting, Ankush Nale, regional director of MSEDCL, Western Maharashtra, has directed officials to take stern action. “Repeated appeals to consumers to pay bills has not made much of a difference. And this seriously impacts the financial health of MSEDCL,” Nale said at the meeting.
He directed MSEDCL officials to step up the campaign to disconnect power supply. “We have no option but to disconnect supply,” Nale said. A break up of the data from MSEDCL shows that 8.58 lakh consumers in Pune district have to pay arrears amounting to Rs 209.36 crore, followed by 2.59 lakh consumers in Solapur with arrears of Rs 46.41 crore, arrears of Satara’s 1.93 lakh consumers amounts to Rs 21.21 crore, as many as 2.16 lakh consumers in Sangli owe Rs 24.10 crore, and Kolhapur’s 2.59 lakh consumers have dues amounting to Rs 31.70 lakh.
Also, stringent action will be taken if the official team during the ongoing inspection drive find errant defaulters resorting to unauthorised methods of using electricity.
