Mid-Day: Mumbai:
Sunday, January 29, 2017.
Through an
RTI reply BEST has said that as their meter was not working properly, the
amount has reached Rs 22 lakh.
Dadar-based
Saraswati Singh got the shock of her life in August 2012 when she received a Rs
91,745 electricity bill from BEST for her closed flour mill.
Days have
been miserable for this 61-year-old widow since then, as even after repeated
complaints, the undertaking continued to send her inflated bills, which have
amounted to more than R22 lakh on the present day.
After her
husband passed away in 1990, her only source of income was the flour mill.
However, due to a family dispute in March 2012, it had to be shut down.
Thereafter, BEST started charging her a basic amount every month as power bill.
However, the
entire scenario changed when she received the first inflated bill.
Is anyone
hearing?
Speaking to
mid-day, Saraswati said, "I made several complaints to BEST, but all of it
has fallen on deaf ears. Since August 2012 I have been getting bills more than
R50,000 every month."
She further
said, "In September 2012, I received a bill of Rs 70,000, which was Rs
92,000 in October. The total amount has already reached R22 lakh. My grandson
is fighting for me since nobody paid any heed to my complaints."
Shocking
reply
When asked
about the issue, Saraswati's 37-year-old grandson Vibhash Singh, who works as a
production assistant in the film industry said, "I had filed an RTI query
to know the exact reason behind the inflated bills. I was shocked when I
received a reply from BEST this month saying that there was some problem with
their meter."
Meter
disconnected
He further
said, "BEST officials disconnected the meter in September 2014, but by
that time the total bill amount was already Rs 12 lakh. After that they stopped
sending us bills. However, this month they sent me a message saying that we
have to pay Rs 22,49,750."
"Recently
I got a reply from BEST through RTI that they would deduct R18,33,697 from the
total amount as their meter was not working properly from June 2011 to
September 2014," he added.
Will look
into the matter
When
contacted, BEST committee chairman Mohan Mithbavkar told mid-day, "We have
asked for certain documents from Vibhash. After we receive them, the concerned
official will be asked to investigate the matter and find out what exactly
happened."