Confusion over power bills as TSSPDCL cites model code of conduct

The discom has said the bills were “merged” is because of the Mahabubnagar Local Authorities code of conduct.

Hyderabad:

A few bills, in which the TSSPDCL merged the previous month’s bill, are being shared on social media by consumers, questioning the bill since they were issued zero bills earlier.

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The discom, which had issued zero bills as part of the Gruha Jyothi scheme in some areas in March, has now issued bills asking the consumer to pay in April. The TSSPDCL said this was done because of the MLC election model code of conduct being in vogue. When the code was in vogue, the TSSPDCL is not supposed to issue zero bills, it said. In areas where the previous month’s bill was added, the discom clarified, it had happened due to a technical glitch.

Consumers in different parts of Greater Hyderabad and a few other districts complained of such bills that include the total units consumed by them.

Prashant Varma, a X user said “One of my friends resides at Wanaparthy also encountered with the same issue. The town incharge of the electricity department said the Gruha Jyothi scheme will be implemented once the code of conduct is lifted.”

A consumer in Saroornagar received a bill of Rs.809 for the month of April. But the bill included last month’s bill value of Rs.262. The April month actual bill for the consumer was Rs.547 and after March’s consumption value of Rs. 262 was added, the total bill was issued for Rs.809.The TSSPDCL said the bill pertained to Saroornagar area of Rangareddy district, where the model code of conduct for the MLC election was in force. “Hence, the Gruha Jyothi scheme could not be launched in seven districts, including Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Mahabubnagar, Gadwal, Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool and Narayanpet in March,” the discom said on X.

“Due to a technical glitch in the Spot Billing Machine (SBM) such erroneous bill.was generated for the consumer in March 2024 even though the scheme was not launched in these districts. The same was rectified in Electronic Billing System (EBS) software and normal bill was generated,” it added.