Congress leader demands power bill waiver for Mumbai

A Senior Mumbai Congress leader has demanded that electricity bills of the citys residential consumers who pay up to Rs 2000 per month be waived off He has also asked the government to prevent overcharging by the distribution companies on the pretext of average billing for the lockdown periodCongresss city unit VicePresident Dr Amarjit Singh Manhas has highlighted various problems in a letter to Maharashtra Energy Minister and state Congress working president Dr Nitin Raut People have been severely affected financially Moreover generating electricity bills using the average reading method has created a lot of chaos Power firms are taking undue advantage of the situation by over charging the people of Mumbai he saidClosed units got huge billsManhas added that the consumers who have been paying average bills of Rs 4000 mdash Rs 5000 for the past three months have been asked to pay Rs 50000 after their meters were read Most of the commercial units such as factories shops offices etc were shut and yet they got exorbitant bills he said adding that the companies were threatening to impose late fees and interest on the unpaid bills for the lockdown periodThe leader said that Congress President Sonia Gandhis directive to the partys and its alliance governments to provide poor people in rural and urban areas with relief packages should be followed I request you to waive off Mumbais residential users bills up to Rs 2000 Please set up high power committees for each Parliament constituency to look into overcharging and also ask companies to resolve grievances within 14 days Manhas saidWaiver for 100 units proposedEnergy minister Raut told midday he has been working on a proposal to waive off monthly bills for consumption of up to 100 units across the state including Mumbai However since Mahavitaran is making a loss of R5600 crore every month from March till date and the budgetary provision for the energy department is cut substantially we havent been able to take a final decision But I am sure it will happen in future he saidWhen asked if utilities in Mumbai other than Mahavitaran would be compensated in case of a waiver Raut said things will be worked out at an appropriate time He said the state and private distributors have been directed to not disconnect power supply in case of payment default and also asked them to allow consumers to pay dues in partsAfter lockdown eased Mahavitaran read meters and billed correctly It has also given the benefit of consumption slabs which determine the tariff for monthly units consumed below or above certain cap to avoid overcharging for the lockdown period We expect other companies to do the same he said adding that the suggestions made by Manhas will also be consideredApprove treatment chief minister tells ModiCM Thackeray also sought a uniform policy for university examinationsMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to approve some treatments for the COVID19 infection and sought a uniform policy for university examinations and farm loans by nationalised banks Thackeray put forth these demands while presenting Maharashtras point of view in a video conference with Modi on Wednesday He said the state has created massive healthcare facilities in the past 70 days to chase the virus and also attracted big investment of around R16000 crore from national and multinational companies He said testing has been increased and tracing intensified He asked the PM to provide the state with ventilators Thackeray also said state doctors have treated COVID patients with a combination of several drugs These treatments showed results and hence should be approved These treatments were used on 90yearolds and small children he said The CM also told the PM that Maharashtra wasnt in a position to conduct examinations immediately and had decided on a certain passing formula for professional coursesBut we want the Central education agencies to decide on uniformity for professional as well as other courses so that the students across the country are treated equally Thackeray saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news