Ensure bills without errors

As there were apprehensions about the increase in the monthly electricity tariff in Kashmir, the installation of smart meters changed the perspective of people, as the tariff is not huge, as it was expected earlier. The government has from time to time made it clear that the charges will not be high as the people would be asked to pay as per the usage from now onwards. But with the passage of time, the people started realizing that the smart meters have proved a major relief to them as some of the areas have started witnessing round-the-clock electricity. Since its installation, what landed the people in trouble is the frequent errors in the monthly tariff bills. It has been observed that the people from different areas complain of the error in the electricity bills being served to them. A recent example is Zaffran Colony here in Pampore area where the consumers were served ‘error’ bills as the consumers complained that the bills show an open balance of Rs 2760 to almost all. Later when the consumers approached the authorities, they were informed about the error in the bills. Therefore, to ensure more efficiency, there is a need to ensure that the bills are not served to the consumer without proper checks and authentication. The frequent errors could sometimes prove detrimental to the efforts of the government and thus the concerned department must be asked to keep a close watch over these issues and ensure the people are not pushed to the wall.