RelInfra gets notice over inflated bills

Delhi’s power regulator DERC slapped a show-cause notice on power distribution company Reliance Infrastructure, formerly known as Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES), after an investigating agency found it had a software glitch and faulty billing system.

Reliance Infrastructure had issued consumers inflated bills and DERC has now asked it to file a reply to its notice by October 15. 

Consumers complained about receiving inflated bills in June and July. Sources said the meter reading data for those months were also missing from the Reliance Infrastructure software.

“The meter reading data was missing from many bills. This caused major discrepancies in the system. Our investigating agency, Standardisation, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC), indicated that the inflated bills were because of a faulty billing and software glitch,” a DERC official said.

Another major fault which STQC recorded was that instead of using the Common Meter Reading Instrument (CMRI) to record a consumer’s electricity usage many Reliance Infrastructure officials manually recorded. “None of our officials use manual methods to record the usage. This is something we have not heard of,” a Reliance Infrastructure official said.

A DERC official said, “In many cases, the maximum demand value recorded by the meter is different from what is recorded in the CMRI. Many bills don’t show the meter reading date. All this has been filled manually. Reliance Infrastructure software also has serious glitches.”