Rs 3,419 crore power bill shocks consumer in Madhya Pradesh

Commercial power consumers must install smart meters by next year

Gwalior: Priyanka Gupta, a resident of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, was in for a rude shock when she received a power bill of a whopping Rs 3,419 crore due to which her father-in-law fell ill.

The Madhya Pradesh government-run power company blamed "human error" and issued a corrected bill of Rs 1,300, much to the relief of the worried Gupta family, who are residents of Shiv Vihar Colony in the city.

Gupta's husband Sanjeev Kankane said his father fell ill after seeing the huge figure on the electricity bill for the domestic consumption for July.

The bill, released on July 20, was cross-verified through the portal of the Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company (MPMKVVC) but was found to be correct, he claimed.

The bill was later corrected by the state power company, said Kankane.

MPMKVVC general manager Nitin Manglik blamed human error for the huge power bill and said action has been taken against the employees concerned.

"An employee entered the consumer number in place of the units consumed in the software, resulting in the bill with a higher amount. The corrected bill of Rs 1,300 has been issued to the power consumer," he said.

MP Energy Minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar told reporters that the error has been rectified and action is being taken against the employee concerned.  

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