Plea in High Court to set a committee for analyzing the reasons for increased electricity bills

On July 9, 2020 two Judges of the Bombay High Court namely, Justice NJ Jamadar and Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta. A petition was filed regarding the deferral of tariffs hikes by the electricity supply companies with effect from April 1, 2020, with the waiver of a fixed charge for a period six to nine months.

The Petitioner, Mahibub D Shaikh represented by Advocates Rajesh Inamdar and Ranjit Shinde said that a committee shall be set for analyzing the reasons for increased electricity bills. There shall be certain guidelines for taking the corrective steps so that the consumers are not worried about the increased bills.

The Petitioner contended that due to Lockdown the private businesses are not working well and if in this unpredictable situation electricity tariffs will be increased it will be very difficult for the people to cope with it.

Many people of Maharashtra are of the opinion that though their shops are closed,  but still they have been receiving exorbitant electricity bills. The State shall not implement higher charges in this situation.

It has also been argued that “ the direction to the respondents to defer or to calculate the bill based upon the previous rates may result into certain financial losses to the State government, however,  it is submitted that the larger public interest has to be seen which in the present case is removing the already existing financial burden on the customers who have already lost their jobs or who are facing burden or who are facing serious financial issues to earn for their livelihood or whose businesses have been shut because of the lockdown “.

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