<p>With several celebrities joining commoners to flag the issue of exorbitant electricity bills, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray stepped in on Tuesday and asked power utilities to address the issue as guided by the regulator.</p>.<p>The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), the state regulator, has said that the bill generated is as per rules but asked not to disconnect supplies and hear out the complaints of consumers.</p>.<p>"Taking stock of the rising number of consumer complaints related to exorbitant electricity bills, MERC has directed power companies to show transparency in its billing procedures and redress the consumer complaints immediately," Thackeray said.</p>.<p>Bollywood actors like Tapasee Pannu, Huma Qureshi and Renuka Sahane, comedian Vir Das were among those who had raised the issue.</p>.<p>The power supply companies - MahaVitaran, Tata Power, Adani Power, BEST - had informed the MERC that during lockdown, bills were raised on the average consumption of three months prior to March 2020, which were winter months when consumption was low, and so the average bills reflected the same.</p>.<p>The present bills were raised on actual meter readings during the summer months where the consumption is normally high and the bills are always of higher amounts.</p>.<p>Hence, the balance amount payable after adjusting the average bill amounts for each of the three months March, April and May have led to higher bills that were issued in June.</p>.<p>The MERC has asked these companies to permit certain consumers to pay the bills in 3 monthly instalments.</p>
<p>With several celebrities joining commoners to flag the issue of exorbitant electricity bills, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray stepped in on Tuesday and asked power utilities to address the issue as guided by the regulator.</p>.<p>The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), the state regulator, has said that the bill generated is as per rules but asked not to disconnect supplies and hear out the complaints of consumers.</p>.<p>"Taking stock of the rising number of consumer complaints related to exorbitant electricity bills, MERC has directed power companies to show transparency in its billing procedures and redress the consumer complaints immediately," Thackeray said.</p>.<p>Bollywood actors like Tapasee Pannu, Huma Qureshi and Renuka Sahane, comedian Vir Das were among those who had raised the issue.</p>.<p>The power supply companies - MahaVitaran, Tata Power, Adani Power, BEST - had informed the MERC that during lockdown, bills were raised on the average consumption of three months prior to March 2020, which were winter months when consumption was low, and so the average bills reflected the same.</p>.<p>The present bills were raised on actual meter readings during the summer months where the consumption is normally high and the bills are always of higher amounts.</p>.<p>Hence, the balance amount payable after adjusting the average bill amounts for each of the three months March, April and May have led to higher bills that were issued in June.</p>.<p>The MERC has asked these companies to permit certain consumers to pay the bills in 3 monthly instalments.</p>
