Bhubaneswar: The Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu), the power distribution company of Odisha, Thursday reported that it has collected arrears to the tune of `21 crore out of `1,971 crore till January 5, 2020 from domestic and commercial consumers.
Addressing the media, Cesu CEO Arun Bothra said, “We have collected arrears from 1.1 lakh consumers, while 5.9 lakh consumers are yet to pay their pending bills to the tune of `1,971 crore.”
About a month back, Cesu had asked the defaulting consumers to pay their pending bills or they face disconnection of power supply. “Since the Cesu didn’t receive arrear payments from 5.9 lakh consumers, we will start disconnecting power supply to the defaulters from January 16 to February 5, 2020,” said Bothra.
The disconnection drive will start in 11,397 villages of 20 divisions in 1,643 routes. The CEO said that 413 squads will be employed in the exercise covering 11,397 villages.
Cesu had sent notices to over 8.9 lakh consumers for payment of dues to the tune of `1,494 crore. Of these defaulters, 8.3 lakh were domestic and 59,190 commercial consumers. This aside, there are more than 73,000 government consumers.
“The state government has assured to pay all pending bills (`64 crore) within March 31, 2020 and also to pay monthly bills regularly from this April,” Bothra said.
The CEO also mentioned that Cesu has provided installment payment facility to consumers to clear their pending bills. “People whose dues are less than `25,000 can pay 30 per cent down payment and the remaining amount in 3 installments. Similarly, people whose arrears are below `50,000 and can pay 50 per cent down payment and the remaining amount in three equal installments,” said Bothra.
