Kolkata residents allegedly scam, CESC limited bills hit by electric bills from Rs 500 to Rs 3k

 Many people have taken the social media to claim that CESC Ltd is paying extra for the manipulation of the slab mechanism since the actual readings could not be recorded for the lockdown in March and April.

In the last couple of days, people from Kolkata have complained that they had received exorbitant power bills, some for March, and others for april. There has been a furor in Kolkata

CESC Ltd, a private company owned by Sanjiv Goenka that provides power to Czech Republic and its district, argued that bills were higher because the actual readings could not be taken for March and April due to the COVID-19 lockdown and that persons were charged on the average over the same months.

But consumers, including celebrities and policymakers, argued that by manipulating the plate mechanism the company is charging extra. The charge of electricity per unit increases as usage of units increases and units are charged at a higher rate when previous duties are adjusted with the latest charges.

Those who have protested in social media include national award-winning movie-maker Kaushik Ganguly, filmmaker Aniket Chattpadhyay, film-maker Kunal Sarkar, the musician Drono Acharya, BJP female chiefs of the theatres Agnimitra Paul, actors Ankush Hazra and Yash Dasgupta and film-producer Shibaji Panja. They also speak of the social media and the theatre personalities.

"New normal @CESCLimited cannot be this Ask you for my bill INR 17,660, which is an absurd sum in comparison with what I pay for the last years," wrote Yash Dasgupta.

Film maker Aniket Chattopadhyay wrote on Facebook, "They are sure to die after seeing CESC bills, those who did not die of Covid. Is the state administration blind?"

its scam

Ranjit Sur, a human rights militant, called for a commission of inquiry. President Somen Mitra of the Bengal Unit in Congress said he has written for immediate attention to Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister.

Most netizens used the hashtag #cescscam to express their grievances on social media and call billings as 'planned theft,' 'loot and daylight dacoity. One consumer at home uploaded her Rs 40,340 letter. He claimed his bill of April came to be Rs 15,100 and Rs 19,900 to be May bill. Many social media users have uploaded copies to Rs 12,000 to Rs 25,000 of their banknotes.

Minister of state power Sobhandeb Chatterjee on Friday requested the CESC authorities to announce and discuss their billing mechanism in all major journals on Saturday.

"I have a Rs 12,000 bill for myself and should have been around Rs 6,000-7,000 in the ordinary bill for this month. Many people visit my home every day with similar complaints. I understand that the consumption may have increased because most of the people were home, but there should be some problem somewhere if such complaints arise," said the minister.

CESC's Saturday ad was headlined by "We don't overload you" in a leading English daily. It claimed, "We billed you less during the Covid lock-down period for two months than your consumption... We charged you this month for real use plus the unbilled amount in the last two months...

We guarantee that your bills reflect due slab advantages."

In addition, Debasish Banerjee, Managing Director of CESC, said: "We will be offering you an option for paying by instalment, 50% now and 25% each in the next two months for your convenience." In a video message.

At Kolkata, the slab rate is as follows for domestic consumption: Rs 4.89 for the first 25 units, Rs 5.4 for the following 35 units, Rs 6.41 for the next 40 Units, Rs 7.16 for the next 50 Units, Rs 7.33 for the next 150 Units and Rs 8.92 per Unit for any thing above 300 Units.

The extent of the anguish is indicated by the creation in the afternoon of July 17th of a Facebook page named CESC Bill Scam which had over 1,400 followers on the afternoon night. It was described as "a protest movement in the COVID-19 period against illogical power bill by the CESC."

The CESC's explanation was nevertheless not persuaded by the political activist Prassenjit Bose. "The abuse of slab advantages seems apparent. The people in higher slabs were charged."

The last measurements were read in the first half of March for the month of February, according to an official of the CESC. The March bill is based on consumption in March 2019, and the April bill is based on average consumption in the last six months.

The official of the CESC who did not want to be named explained.

But this billing process was criticised by Susanta Kumar Patra, leader of All Bengal Electricity Consumers' Association (ABECA).

"The higher the consumption for a month, the higher the rate drops. In order to have a monthly average and adjusted separately, the CESC should have divided the four-month total readings by four. They added differences for all months to one month instead, which resulted in a higher slab billing," said Patra.

A consumer who provides an example of the impact of higher slabs on overall billing, said that his total unit used during the period of March, April and May 2019 was 648 (138+2204+306 units). In these three months he is consuming 688 units this year (138 + 114 + 436), but the overall cost is 4,754 units.

"The difference here is Rs 500 for only 40 units. The reason is that for Rs 7.16 per unit or Rs 7.33 per unit 100 odd units that had not been billed for March and April. But if this is added during the May consumption, Rs 8.92 per unit will be charged. In my May bill, therefore, Rs 8.92 per unit was charged for 136 units

Consumer has said,

He read his metre in June and received the actual bill in May. A hard blow fell on those whose metres had been read in July because far larger units were charged at Rs 8.92 per unit.

this is total scam Mr  Sanjiv Goenka please look that matter

therwise we are goint to finnish your monopoly bussiness.