MUMBAI: The island city will have to wait for two months for electricity bills as BEST has shut down its server following a malfunction. Restoring the system will take at least a week, which means consumers will get a bill for two months’ use by the end of January.

BEST deputy general manger Shrikant Khedkar told the BEST committee that data corruption in the billing software had slowed down the server. “So we decided to shut it down and clean the corrupted files. The reason for the delay in bill generation will be mentioned.” He said bills had been generated and despatched to commercial users and high-value customers like five-star hotels.

Former BEST committee member Ravi Raja said BEST collects Rs 250 crore in power charges a month and because of late collection, it will lose interest.

There is no foolproof system to protect data in BEST’s server, said MNS member Kedar Hombalkar. “We give crores to a private firm for the job, They should ensure uninterrupted service.”

Angry committee members have reprimanded the administration for keeping citizens in the dark. “You (administration) did not inform consumers about the server breakdown and the resulting delay in bill generation. This is poor customer service,” said panel chairman Nana Ambole.

Hombalkar said this was the second time in recent months that the server remained shut for more than ten days. “We doubt the credibility of the company handling the job. The company should be blacklisted for poor maintenance.”

Congress member Shivji Singh wants BEST to manage the server and related IT jobs with its own staff. “Why should we give crores to private firms? Some of our staffers are highly qualified in the use of software and hardware.”

