NASHIK: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL/Mahavitaran) has instructed all the regional offices, including Nashik, to recover the arrears and immediately cut off the power supply if payments are further delayed. In the district, farmers using agricultural pumps were supposed to pay the highest portion of electricity arrears.
At the end of December 2020, the state has a total due pending of Rs 63,740 crore, which has worsened the financial condition of MSEDCL. Now, if the customer does not pay the electricity bill, MSEDCL will have no choice but to cut off the power supply,” said the order. Till December end, agricultural pump customers have pending dues of Rs 45,498 crore, while commercial, residential and industrial customers of Rs 8,485 crore.
Whereas Rs 2,435 crore is pending with the consumers using high voltage supply. In November 2020, after hinting at a major relief to electricity consumers facing the issue of inflated power bills, State power minister Nitin Raut said that there will be no waiver in the electricity bills; consumers will have to pay the bills.
Several people had expressed shock over the electricity bill amount that they received in the lockdown. In the meantime, in September 2020, private power distribution companies, with the permission of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had launched a payment recovery drive in Mumbai and suburban areas, disrupting the power supply of many customers.
Following that, Raut had instructed MSEDCL not to cut off the power supply till the end of December. However, the MSEDCL will now be taking an extreme step as the pending dues are mounting with each passing day. It is becoming impossible for MSEDCL to run its day-to-day operations, pay debts of banks as well as employees’ salaries.
MSEDCL has directed all the officers to start the campaign from January to recover the arrears. The authorities have also indicated action against the officers and employees who fail to recover the dues.
