Mumbai: Colony in Chembur plunges into darkness due to non-payment of Rs 99 crore electricity bills – Times of India

MUMBAI: Several consumers from Siddharth Colony in Chembur are in protest as almost the entire colony is plunged into darkness due to the power supply being disconnected by Adani Electricity.
Sources said that several consumers from this colony had not paid pending electricity bills which, along with the penalty, has mounted to Rs 99 crore.
When contacted, sources in Adani Electricity said that the outstanding amount was for 16 years. “Such non-payment of dues puts an unnecessary burden on other regular paying consumers,” a source said.
Power Supply to these defaulting consumers has been disconnected on multiple occasions in the past.
After the last disconnection in August 2019, the power supply was restored on humanitarian grounds and on assurances of making regular payment of current bills on a monthly basis starting June 2019 and liquidating all past outstanding payments within a three-month period.
However, consumers of the Siddharth colony continue to default on even their current dues, notwithstanding past overdues.
An Adani Electricity spokesperson said, “Despite multiple relaxations, several notices and reminders, consumers from Siddharth Colony and Shuddhodhan Nagar have not cleared their outstanding dues and continue to default on their current dues as well. This puts an unnecessary tariff burden on our regular paying consumers and such a situation is unacceptable. We are therefore obligated and constrained to initiate mass disconnection against such defaulters in interest of our regular paying consumers.”