Special Correspondent
Panaji: The state government on Wednesday decided to waive off all penalties in electricity bill after facing a lot of flak from the people over the steep power bills.
The move came after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting with the Chief Electrical Engineer Stephen Fernandes and other officials on Wednesday evening to discuss the penalty charges and related issues.
The CEE later informed mediapersons that a decision has been taken to waive off all penalties and to adjust the amount in the next bills for those customers who have already paid their bill/penalties. He also informed that a related notification would be issued in the next two days.
The Electricity Department has now decided to treat the load recorded on a consumer’s electricity meter as the new sanctioned load, the CEE said.
Fernandes said the department will now automatically update the sanctioned load in its records based on the load already recorded on the consumer’s meter and will treat it as if the consumer had already submitted an online application for load enhancement.
He, however, said that consumers would remain responsible for ensuring the safety of their electrical installations.
Meanwhile, the government has temporarily rolled back its decision to install the electricity Smart Meters across Goa, following concerns over billing discrepancies, load-related issues and other consumer complaints.
Making an announcement on the decision after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, “After the power issue, the installation of electricity Smart Meters is currently on hold. I have prepared a note and will forward it to the department. The payment differences, load issues and other disputes will be taken up and resolved.”
Informing that one lakh smart meters have not been installed till date, and the load needs to be studied first, following which the matter would be discussed further, Sawant stated that the government would first conduct a detailed assessment of electricity load requirements and address the issues raised by consumers before moving ahead with the Smart Meter project.
