Discrepancy in bill receipts and payment made by Adivasis

The State government is yet to release orders with regard to free power supply to Scheduled Tribe consumers in the State. The announcement was made by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, at a meeting with power sector officials on November 18, 2017. This has put not only the ST consumers in a quandary, but also made it difficult for the concerned discoms, which are reporting decreased monthly collections since the announcement.

The Northern Power Distribution Company Limited has reported a fall by 10 % in its monthly collection in the erstwhile united Adilabad district against a demand of ₹30 crore. There are about 37, 158 ST consumers whose dues have mounted to nearly ₹12 crore, the lion’s share of over ₹8 crore being from the consumers who fall in the category of below 50 units consumption. The personnel responsible for billing, however, do not seem to be worried over the delay in release of the government order. They have seemingly taken advantage of the situation and the gullibility of the consumers, especially Adivasis to make a fast buck.

For example, many among the 8 consumers at Mallapur village in Sirikonda mandal allege that the money they had paid as power bill in November last year has not been remitted into the account of the NPDCL. They exhibit the bills and receipts to prove their allegation against the field staff and also point out that the field staff do not record the consumed units either.

Madavi Raju, a Raj Gond Adivasi in the village, had cleared his dues of ₹7,000 in November but got a bill for the same amount in the current month. The bill shows only ₹1,000 having been credited as last payment, which puts a question mark as to what happened to the remaining ₹6,000 paid by the consumer.

There are many similar cases in Mallapur village where the bill collectors seem to have siphoned off money by giving fake receipts to the consumers. “In that case, they might escape taking advantage of the government orders waiving off the dues,” opined Pusam Anand Rao, a consumer.