PANAJI
Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar has assured consumers that the Electricity Department will streamline its billing system within three months, promising resolution of inflated bill complaints by October.
Speaking to journalists after Tuesday's cabinet meeting, Dhavalikar noted that there were complaints over continued high electricity bills and the Electricity Department had sought three months to streamline the system. He said, he expects the issues to be resolved by October even as he stressed that discrepancies linked to fines for sanctioned load breaches have been addressed and adjustments will reflect in the billing of upcoming cycles. Refunds due will be credited against bills, he reiterated. The assurance comes amid persistent public anger over steep ch arges. Households across Goa continue to report inflated bills despite earlier government promises of relief. The controversy had begun earlier this summer when households received unusually high bills and officials had attributed the surge to usage beyond sanctioned load. Confusion had deepened then as the rollout of smart meters coincided with the spike, fuelling suspicion among consumers and the government was forced to halt the smart meter plan as protests erupted across the State.
