Adani Takes Over Distribution, Mumbai Fumes Over Electricity Bills

An AEML spokesperson said the electricity bill hikes had “no correlation with Adani taking over” distribution.

Residents of Mumbai’s suburbs allege that their bills have been inflated by over 50 percent since Adani Electricity took over power distribution.

Photo Courtesy: The Quint

Goregaon resident Debdeep Banerjee was used to spending an average of Rs 3,000 every month for electricity. But he was shocked when he received the bill for October. It was double the usual amount he used to pay.

“My bill used to be an average of around Rs 3,000 every month, but last month, there was a drastic hike, it was almost Rs 6,500. This is problematic and must be addressed but I don’t know how I’m going to do that as it’s not my house and I just pay the rent. Everyone knows about how expensive the rents are in Mumbai, and over that, if you have to pay such electricity bills, it’s a problem.”

Debdeep Banerjee, Resident

Like Debdeep, the Mumbaikars who subscribe to Adani Electricity have been fuming over the sharp spike in their electricity bills in September and October.

Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) took over power distribution from Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) in September, the same month the residents noticed a spike in their bills.

People took to social media with copies of their bills to highlight the steep hike in the rates.

Andheri resident Prashant Jha said he wrote to Adani Electricity, which then sent an engineer to his residence. Jha has alleged that his latest bill was triple of the usual amount even though he was travelling for three weeks around October.

“I was travelling when I got the bill, but when I returned and saw it, I was shocked. The bill of October that I have received is around Rs 3,000 and last October, my bill was less than Rs 1,000. So this is triple the amount. I took a picture of my metre’s reading and another of the reading that was mentioned on the bill. The difference was of 300 units.”

Prashant Jha, AEML Customer   

Adani’s AEML Says ‘No Correlation’

Responding to The Quint’s queries about the reason for the sudden hike in rates, an AEML spokesperson said the hikes had “no correlation with Adani taking over” the distribution, and its tariff rates were approved by state power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).

“RInfra filed Tariff petition to MERC on 22nd Dec 2017, MERC conducted Public Hearing on 2 Aug 2018 and reserved the Order. Adani took over RInfra’s Mumbai electricity business on 28 Aug 2018 and Tariff revision Order was issued by MERC on 12 Sept. 2018, which is effective from 1 Sept 2018. The tariff increase has no correlation with Adani taking over Mumbai distribution business. It is only a coincidence that the timing of tariff revision coincided with the takeover.”

AEML also attributed the increase in electricity bill to higher consumption in October.

“The increased consumption (units) combined with the tariff rates approved by MERC as shown above increased the bill amount for October consumption bills. This is a natural phenomenon and is repeated every year. Further, AEML, or any Distribution Licensee, for that matter, is not authorised to charge any tariff other than that approved by MERC. We are addressing the customer queries by educating them and providing factual information.”

AEML Spokesperson

But some residents claimed that they are yet to receive answers for their steep electricity bills. Despite visiting the AEML office, Activist Maqsood Alam said he is yet to receive a solution as paying such expensive bills was not an option for him.

“Earlier my electricity bills used to be anywhere around Rs 1,400-Rs 1,600. My latest bill, however, has come up to Rs 4,000. They have suddenly increased the rate. They should have informed us before increasing the rates. Even when we enquire, they don’t tell us anything. They ask us to go upstairs to the first floor and enquire. When you go to the first floor, they ask you to go to the second floor, then the third, etc. When you reach the main person, he says, this order is from the higher authorities. But who will give us a solution,” asks Alam.