Ninety-year-old Girijamma, who lives in a tiny shed at Koppal city in Karnataka’s Bhagyanagar, got the shock of her life when she received an electricity bill of Rs 1 lakh. The aged woman who used to pay Rs 70 to Rs 80 every month as a power tariff, was in tears after getting a bill to the tune of Rs 1,03,315 for the month of May.
Girijamma, who is already struggling to earn her livelihood, appeal to the media to bail her out of the situation.
After the media raised questions over the issue, Karnataka Minister for Power, K.J. George on Thursday said that the excess bill was generated because of an error in the meter reading
“She got the bill that mentioned the wrong amount due to a glitch in the metre. She need not pay the bill,” said George.
Following the minister’s statement, the staff of Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (Gescom) rushed to her shed.
The executive engineer, Rajesh inspected the power meter and maintained that it was a technical glitch.
“The inflated bill was generated because of the error of the staff and bill collector.,” he said adding that the woman
The incident resulted in public outrage as the people across the state are unhappy about the hiked tariff rates and inflated bills.
The Congress government, which promised 200 units of free power for all households under the Griha Laxmi scheme, has been making all efforts to subdue the bitter feelings. The industrial bodies have also given a bandh call to protest against the increase in power tariff.
(With IANS Inputs)
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