CHANDIGARH — The Punjab government has announced that erroneous electricity bills issued to approximately 63,000 consumers across the state will be rectified within three working days. The move addresses widespread consumer grievances caused by a combination of an earlier strike by meter readers and a software malfunction during a digital system migration.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Punjab Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Saund stated that the government has initiated corrective measures following directives from Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The issue arose after regular meter readings were disrupted in May and June due to industrial action by meter readers. When power consumption surged during the peak summer month of July, the automated billing system calculated a quarterly average across the three-month period.
This mathematical averaging artificially pushed several domestic consumers past the 300-unit monthly ceiling, rendering them ineligible for the state’s zero-bill electricity subsidy despite maintaining usage below the threshold in earlier months. Out of roughly 7.8 million consumers serviced by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), an estimated 63,000 accounts were impacted by this specific calculation anomaly.
Under the rectification process, revised bills will be issued to unpaid consumers within three working days, granting the 300-unit monthly subsidy for May and June and charging only for the additional units consumed in July. For consumers who have already cleared their inflated dues, the department assured that excess payments will be automatically credited and adjusted in their subsequent billing cycle.
Responding to viral social media reports regarding inflated bills, Saund clarified that an investigation revealed 98 percent of total billings were accurate, with glitches confined to roughly two percent during data migration from the legacy SAP platform to the new billing architecture. The minister confirmed that the software error has been rectified, and the state has served a formal show-cause notice and initiated legal proceedings against the vendor responsible under a five-year contract bond.
To streamline dispute resolution, the power corporation is establishing a dedicated 20-member consumer-care task force to handle individual billing complaints. Any remaining discrepancies submitted by consumers will be investigated and settled within 15 days following on-ground verification.
