Patiala: Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has directed its field offices to suspend, with immediate effect, the disconnection of Domestic Supply (DS) connections over payment defaults arising from incorrect or inflated electricity bills.The relief will remain in force until the Oracle-based Smart Billing System (SBS) stabilises and erroneous bills are corrected. Field offices have been instructed not to initiate disconnection proceedings in cases covered by the order and to ensure strict compliance.The directive follows complaints from consumers whose incorrect or inflated bills were subsequently reflected as outstanding dues in the billing system, putting their connections at risk of disconnection.According to an order issued by PSPCL’s Director/Distribution in Patiala, a recent strike by meter readers and the ongoing migration of SAP and non-SAP systems to SBS resulted in several DS consumers being billed on an average or presumptive basis.Consequently, some consumers received bills that did not correspond with their actual electricity consumption and approached field offices with complaints.PSPCL said consumers should not face disconnection merely because the billing system showed outstanding dues that did not reflect their actual consumption.The directive was issued to all chief engineers responsible for distribution and supply zones. A copy was also marked to the SE/OSD to PSPCL’s CMD in Patiala.
