Pune News: MSEDCL Urges Online Payment for Power Bills as 6,000 Cheques Bounce
By: Pune Pulse
July 12, 2023
Pune : Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has appealed to customers to pay electricity bills online or through an electronic clearance system (ECS) due to cheque bounce.Â
As per information, instances of cheque bounces have occurred amongst 6,500 consumers of the low-pressure category leading to bank administration levying penalties of around 48 lakh 75 thousand per month along with 1.25 per cent late fee.
It is worthy to note that around 98,500 to 99,000 electricity consumers under Pune circle are paying electricity bills of around Rs 119 crore 50 lakhs per month through cheques. About 6,000 to 6,500 of these customers have bounced cheques worth around Rs 4 crore 65 lakh due to various reasons. It is seen that 4 thousand 450 cheques from Pune city, 1050 from Pimpri Chinchwad and about one thousand cheques from Mulshi, Velhe, Haveli, Ambegaon, Junnar, Khed and Maval talukas are being bounced every month.
Reasons for bounced cheques include wrong date, forgery, wrong signature, wrong name, non-amount in the concerned account etc. If multiple electricity bills are paid through bounced cheques, a penalty amount and a late fee is levied for each electricity bill. Accordingly, bank administration charges of Rs.750/- for each electricity bill and a 1.25 per cent late fee are being included as other charges in the next month’s electricity bill.
On the other hand, in the Pune circle, electricity bills worth Rs 600 crores are being paid conveniently and securely ‘online’ by most of the 20 lakh low-pressure consumers in the state. Also, the facility of ‘ECS’ is available to pay electricity bills every month directly through the bank. Chief Engineer of Pune Circle Rajendra Pawar said that earlier the limit of payment of electricity bills through ‘RTGS’ or ‘NEFT’ was more than Rs 10 thousand. This limit has now been reduced to a minimum of 5 thousand rupees. Accordingly, the bank account details of MSEDCL are also being given on electricity bills of more than 5 thousand rupees of these customers.
A total of 1.25 per cent discount is being given to electricity consumers for paying electricity bills ‘online’ at home with one click, 0.25 per cent off each month’s electricity bill up to a limit of Rs 500 and 1 per cent for prompt payment. Electricity bill payment ‘online’ is free except by credit card. The provisions of RBI Bank’s Payment and Settlement Act-2007 apply to Mahavitaran’s online electricity bill payment method. Therefore, Mahavitaran has appealed that a maximum number of consumers should pay electricity bills ‘online’ instead of by cheque.
