No penalty for non-payment of bills till April 14

Sivakumar.B@timesgroup.com

Chennai:30.03.2020

Tamil Nadu electricity minister P Thangamani on Sunday said that no power connection would be disconnected till April 14 for non-payment of power bills. The minister said all officials concerned had been instructed not to disrupt any power connection - domestic, commercial and industrial – till the lockdown ended. Tangedco, a week ago, had asked consumers, whose bimonthly bills had to be generated between March 22 and 30, to pay bills as per the previous bimonthly readings as the discom staff are not able to visit households to take meter readings.

With regard to some industrial associations seeking three months grace time to pay their February bills, the minister said only chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami could take a call on that.

He said some power connections in Tiruvannamalai district, which were disconnected a few days ago for nonpayment of bills, had been restored based on instruction from senior officials.

“Nearly 80% of Tangedco employees are either attending office or working from home. Braving the virus outbreak, Tangedo employees have attended to complaints of power cuts across the state,” said Thangamani.

There was no power shortage in the state and the discom was committed to providing uninterrupted power supply to help people lead normal life, he said. Much of the demand at present is from domestic sector as most people are working from homes, he said.

Once normalcy returns, the assessors will visit each consumer and record the meter readings.

The balance amount to be paid by the consumers, if any, will be intimated to them once the readings are taken. In case of excess payment by anyone – for those who pay bills based on previous billing cycle – the utility would adjust the excess payment against future bills, Tangedco has clarified.