A tailor in Gujarat’s Valsad was in for a shock when he received an electricity bill that exceeded his shop’s property value. Muslim Ansari runs the shop with his uncle and usually pays power bills through UPI. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the bill amount: Rs 86 lakh.
“I was stunned and thought how could this happen. I rushed to electricity board office the next day and showed them the bill,” he told the media.
New Fashion Tailor, located in Chor Gali of Valsad, stitches men’s outfits, ranging from shirt-pants to sherwanis. The shop draws electricity supplied by the state-owned Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited that has over 32 lakh consumers spread across seven districts in south Gujarat.
Soon after Mr Ansari flagged his massive bill, officials from the discom rushed to his shop and examined the meter. What they found was that two digits — 10 — had been mistakenly added to the meter reading and this led to the huge bill amount.
“There was a mistake. The person who took the meter reading added the digits 10 to the meter reading and this led to the (Rs 86 lakh) bill. We have now given a revised bill of Rs 1,540,” said Hitesh Patel, an employee of the power distribution company.
Muslim Ansari is relieved now. “They have checked the issue and given me a new bill. This is for Rs 1,540. The electricity bill for the shop is usually under Rs 2,000,” he said with a smile, between hemming garments with his sewing machine. The shop is attracting several visitors now after the news of the 86 lakh bill spread. Some are also clicking photos of the old bill. Mr Ansari joked that he should now start charging for the photographs.
Inputs by Sachin Kulkarni