Shed-dwelling, 90-yr-old gets Rs. 1 lakh electricity bill
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Koppal: A 90-year-old Girijamma who has only two light bulbs in her house, received an electricity bill of Rs. 1 lakh due to a technical glitch.
The aged woman, who used to pay Rs 70 to Rs 80 per month as the power tariff, got the shock of her life after seeing the bill amount.
Girijamma, struggling to earn her livelihood, was in tears and appealed to the media to bail her out of the situation.
"She got the bill that mentioned the wrong amount due to a glitch in the meter. She need not pay the bill," Minister for Power, K.J. George said on Thursday.
Following the statement of the minister, the staff of Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (Gescom) rushed to her shed.
The executive engineer, Rajesh inspected the power meter and maintained that it was a technical glitch. The inflated bill was generated because of the error of the staff and bill collector.
He informed the woman that she need not pay the bill. The old woman was relieved and joined both her hands and thanked the officer and media.
The incident resulted in public outrage as the people across the state are unhappy about the hiked tariff rates and inflated bills.
The Congress government, which promised 200 units of free power for all households under the Griha Laxmi scheme, has been making all efforts to subdue the bitter feelings. The industrial bodies have also given a bandh call to protest against the increase in power tariffs.
With inputs from IANS