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DNA EXCLUSIVE: Kandivali doctor gets Rs 94,230 Adani power bill, 78 times over his average

A day after this paper reported how Adani Electricity consumers in some western suburbs have been issued inordinately high bills, an outlandish case came forth with another spate of complaints on Tuesday.

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A day after this paper reported how Adani Electricity consumers in some western suburbs have been issued inordinately high bills, an outlandish case came forth with another spate of complaints on Tuesday.

Rahul Girishchandra, a doctor in Kandivali who operates a single-room clinic, got a bill of Rs 94,230 in July. His average bill, as per Adani Electricity's own records, is around Rs 1,200.

Aghast, he complained to the company's Dindoshi office but said he did not receive any response.

After reading DNA's front-page story on Tuesday ('Adani overcharges 10 times for power'), Girishchandra, who runs his clinic at PTC building off MG Road in Kandivli East, reached out to local corporator Pratibha Girkar. The representative has told DNA that his is one of the many fresh plaints from the area.

"After DNA published the report, I got around another 100 complaints from Kandivali area about inflated bills." She had earlier received around 400. "All of them are urging me to take action over this," Girkar said.

On Tuesday more consumers in an expanded area including Dahisar, Borivali, Malad and Goregaon reached out to DNA stating that the company had despatched bills to them that were way more inflated than what they receive regularly.

Fact-finding panel’s suggestions

Adani has not adopted them 

Improve meter reading, upgrade to smart meters, detect abnormal readings Abnormalities continue in meter readings, company passes buck, blames vendor 
Be prompt in resolving consumer complaints, take measures to avoid a repeat of Sept-Oct outcry over bills  Adani Electricity acts almost two months after consumers raised the issue of inflated bills once again in June
Emulate MahaVitaran’s text service to keep consumers in loop at every stage of billing Firm yet to initiate steps to follow practice 
of sending SMSes every step of the way  

They claimed that they had reached out to the company, many with written complaints, but had not received any response, despite following up the matter with them.

Gopal Shetty, the MP from the area, has urged the company to take corrective action on an emergency basis.

"We received more complaints on Tuesday from Goregaon, Borivali and Malad areas. In every complaint, the bill amount is too high. We have asked Adani Electricity to take action gainst the persons who are failing in their duty and sending such steep bills to consumers for no fault of theirs."

He added that he also received more than 100 complaints on Tuesday.

"Our aim is to obtain a refund for the people who paid the hefty bills. We have asked Adani Electricity to do adjustments in the forthcoming bills," Shetty said.

"We are awaiting the company's response. If Adani Electricity fails to answer, we will have to protest against the company," Gopal Shetty said.


Sending inflated bills is not the only flaw in Adani's power set-up. Its unresponsiveness in addressing the slew of consumer issues is another bone of contention. Consumers say they have no option but to cough up the hefty sums because they don't want to be stranded without power in their houses.

"I was out of town with my family for 15 days and I got a Rs 12,000 electricity bill. I complained to Adani Electricity but the company asked me to pay the bill first and expect action later. I paid it and I never got a call back from them," said Mehul Sanghrajka, a complainant from Mahavir Nagar.

Corporator Girkar said, "My demand is that Adani refund the public money it has looted from innocent people like me through these steep bills. The company should adjust the overcharged amounts in the bills."

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