<p>Thousands of electricity consumers in Kerala are literally shocked at heavy electricity bills for the lockdown days, even for vacant houses.</p>.<p>KSEB sources said that over one lakh complaints have so far been received from consumers. The KSEB's total consumer base is around 1.27 crore.</p>.<p>A major chunk of the domestic consumers received a comparatively higher bill after the lockdown days as the consumption at houses increased during the lockdown period. However, it appears that there were also flaws in calculating the slab-wise fares.</p>.<p>An actor-filmmaker, Madhupal, received a bill of Rs. 5,714 even as his house in Thiruvananthapuram city remained locked during the lockdown days. After he complained, the bill was reduced to Rs. 300. However, another actor, Maniyan Pillai Raju, who complained that his charges went up to Rs. 42,000 from the usual charges of around Rs, 7,000, did not receive a reprieve yet as KSEB officials maintained that his metre reading had shown higher consumption during lockdown days. </p>.<p>According to sources, since door-to-door metre reading could not be carried out in many places owing to the COVID-19 situation, many bills were prepared by considering the average consumption during previous months. In cases where houses remained locked, the average consumption was considered. Hence, hundreds of consumers received a higher bill despite low consumption.</p>.<p>While KSEB chairman N S Pillai said that all such complaints due to flaws in billing would be rectified. KSEB sources said out of the one lakh odd complaints received so far, only less than 5,000 were genuine ones. In majority of complaints the total charges have gone up as the KSEB is following a slab-wise tariff system in which the rate per unit will go up with every 50 units consumed.</p>.<p>With the power charge hike snowballing into a major issue affecting the common man, the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front has also initiated state-wide protest over the issue on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala called for a ‘Lights Off Kerala’ protest on June 17 at 9 pm. Consumers have been urged to switch off their lights for three minutes as a mark of protest. An online petition has also been launched.</p>.<p>Chennithala alleged that some consumers received the bill to the tune of Rs. 18,000, which is thrice their normal charges.</p>
<p>Thousands of electricity consumers in Kerala are literally shocked at heavy electricity bills for the lockdown days, even for vacant houses.</p>.<p>KSEB sources said that over one lakh complaints have so far been received from consumers. The KSEB's total consumer base is around 1.27 crore.</p>.<p>A major chunk of the domestic consumers received a comparatively higher bill after the lockdown days as the consumption at houses increased during the lockdown period. However, it appears that there were also flaws in calculating the slab-wise fares.</p>.<p>An actor-filmmaker, Madhupal, received a bill of Rs. 5,714 even as his house in Thiruvananthapuram city remained locked during the lockdown days. After he complained, the bill was reduced to Rs. 300. However, another actor, Maniyan Pillai Raju, who complained that his charges went up to Rs. 42,000 from the usual charges of around Rs, 7,000, did not receive a reprieve yet as KSEB officials maintained that his metre reading had shown higher consumption during lockdown days. </p>.<p>According to sources, since door-to-door metre reading could not be carried out in many places owing to the COVID-19 situation, many bills were prepared by considering the average consumption during previous months. In cases where houses remained locked, the average consumption was considered. Hence, hundreds of consumers received a higher bill despite low consumption.</p>.<p>While KSEB chairman N S Pillai said that all such complaints due to flaws in billing would be rectified. KSEB sources said out of the one lakh odd complaints received so far, only less than 5,000 were genuine ones. In majority of complaints the total charges have gone up as the KSEB is following a slab-wise tariff system in which the rate per unit will go up with every 50 units consumed.</p>.<p>With the power charge hike snowballing into a major issue affecting the common man, the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front has also initiated state-wide protest over the issue on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala called for a ‘Lights Off Kerala’ protest on June 17 at 9 pm. Consumers have been urged to switch off their lights for three minutes as a mark of protest. An online petition has also been launched.</p>.<p>Chennithala alleged that some consumers received the bill to the tune of Rs. 18,000, which is thrice their normal charges.</p>