Karnataka shop owner gets Rs 10 lakh power bill, electricity officials say technical glitch

A shop owner received an electricity bill of more than Rs 10 lakh for the month of August. Shocked after seeing the bill, he contacted the electricity officials who have assured to rectify it. An official of MESCOM said the mistake was due to some technical problem and a fresh bill would be issued soon.

Chikkamagaluru (Karnataka): A shop owner in Kadaru town of Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru was left completely shocked when he received a power bill of over Rs 10 lakh for August.

Shop owner, Kamal Chand of Mohit Agency at Daga Complex near Ulukinakallu in Kadur town usually gets a power bill of Rs 4,000-4,500. But, this time, the bill for the month of August displayed a sum of Rs 10,26,054. The bill left him in utter confusion and shock.

Chand said, "In the past, we have been paying the electricity bills on time. There is not a single month where we have any pending bills. There is no reason as to why we have been asked to pay Rs 10,26,054 this month. We contacted Kadur Mangaluru Electricity Supply Company Ltd (MESCOM) officials in this regard. The officials there have assured to fix the issue.''

When contacted, a MESCOM official told ETV Bharat, "There is some technical error due to which the sum has been printed wrongly. We have checked and rectified it. The revised bill will be delivered to the customer very soon. We will investigate the matter and take appropriate action," he said.

A similar incident came to light in a house in Ullal in Dakshina Kannada district two months back where a consumer received a power bill of Rs 7 lakh. Sadashiva Acharya, resident of Ullal was in disbelief to see the Rs 7 lakh bill. That time too, the error was due to some technical glitch and officials rectified the mistake and issued a revised bill.