Work-from-home staff seek allowance as power bills surge

Work-from-home staff seek allowance as power bills surge

Petlee.Peter @timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  09.07.2020

Psychiatrist and family counsellor Vidhya Mohan works from her flat in 3rd Block, Koramangala, these days. Her monthly electricity bill, she says, gives her a panic attack. The bill just doesn’t seem to dip since the lockdown began.

The 35-year-old is one of the many salaried staffers in Bengaluru who is working from home since mid-March and getting huge bills. “I have asked my office if they can reimburse me 25% of the monthly power expenses, something similar to the house rent allowance. This is one of the discussions in our work group,” Vidhya says.

Many feel since the companies are saving big on power expenses now, they should provide electricity allowance for employees. “My electricity bill used to be around Rs 2,300, but for March and April, it was over Rs 8,900. I’ve been working from home all through the lockdown period, but it’s just an extra fan and light which was probably on for 12 hours,” says a puzzled Shailesh Kumar from Mahadevapura, a techie.

Meanwhile, Bescom claimed consumers had to pay more as there was heavy consumption at home during this period. The utility has elaborated on the issue on social media and asked consumers to call the Bescom helpline or visit the local sub division for clarification.

However, human resource personnel opined that it’s not a viable option during the crisis. “People are trying to save their jobs, so there may be no scope for any additional allowance. Moreover, policy change is needed to grant such allowances,” said an HR executive with an IT firm.

Some names have been changed on request

Some IT firms offer furniture, dongles

Some firms in Bengaluru, mainly in the IT sector, are offering office furniture, dongles and UPS to their staff working from home. “We’ve been given an allowance to purchase an office chair as we’ll be working from home till the end of the year. A small percentage towards our power bills can also be granted,” says an engineer.