In a fantastic billing mistake, Basant Sharma from Sector 122, Noida, received an electricity bill exceeding Rs 4 crore for a three-month period. The bill, forwarded in the name of his wife Priyanka Sharma, covered consumption from April 9 to July 18, amounting to Rs 4,02,31,842.31. Railway employee Sharma had come to Shimla for official training. He was informed about the bill through SMS on Thursday and the due date of payment was July 24.
The huge bill prompted Sharma to get in touch with the local power distribution company, which then attributed the high amount to the error of a meter reader and assured that the anomaly would be rectified soon. The house was rented out and the tenant, who used to work from home and was staying alone there at the time when the bill was raised, Sharma said while pointing out that the consumption is related only to basic appliances.
Area executive engineer Shivam Tripathi said that it was a mistake. “Meter readings running into lakhs are very rare,” he admitted. He agreed that the meter reading was patently wrong and, based on the complaint, he asked his team to take a fresh reading and send the revised bill.
The first bill indicated that the meter reading was at 85,936 units as of April 8, and a subsequent reading on July 18 read 90,144 units. After all standard adjustments and deductions have been taken into account, the actual bill will be much lower than the figure quoted initially.
Basant Sharma was relieved when the electricity department told him that they would rectify the bill and charge him for correct charges. He stated that he might get a discount of Rs 2.8 lakh if he pays within the stipulated time period.
