Help Regarding High Electricity Bill

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Hachune

Hachune

Forerunner
Hi,
I will start off by saying that I don't know how to calculate the amount of electricity bill I need to pay. The only way I know how is to compare our usage with our neighbour's usage. Since the past few months, our bill has always been more than double our neighbour's but when I think about both our usage, I don't see anything why it should be this much more.

Our Energy meter as per 7th June 2023 :
IMG20230607152105.jpg



Our Energy meter as per 4th July 2023 :
IMG20230705213903.jpg



Left side is our neighbour's energy meter while the right side is ours. I am also a bit confused on how to read the kWh displayed on the meter, am I supposed to read the last line written in red too? If not, then our usage is as follows :

1. Neighbour's 1 month usage : 17731 - 17567 = 164 kWh
2. Our 1 month usage : 36667 - 36491 =176 kWh

The difference in our usage is only 12 kWh yet they are billed around Rs 850 while we are billed around Rs 1700. This seems sus tbh but I am very ignorant about it. Before knowing our actual usage difference, I thought of changing our meter but that doesn't seem to be the issue. If you know how to calculate bill from usage, have tips to lower it or an idea as to why this is happening , please help me out, thanks.
 
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Oops yea I got that wrong. You are billed the high charge for only the additional units. Did not know that. Now that I think about it the system I mentioned wouldnt be practical. Sorry for that. And thanks for the correction guys.
 
1688579243231.png

This is the tariff for Domestic consumers.

For your 176 units, your energy charge will be around ~1030 Rs. Plus the fixed charge.
Your neighbour's 164 units should only be (12 x 7.10) ~85 Rs less than your bill.

Don't they give a bill with the proper split up?
 
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Also check for arrears from before. I got a shock this month with my bill doubling but then recalled they charged only 200 bucks last month for some reason.
 
detonator22 said:
I don't know if it's the root of your problem but electricity bills have different charges per unit kWh used depending on total consumption. For eg. Where I live if your total consumption is < 100 you are billed at ~ Rs 3 / kWh. But if you go above 100 it's Rs 7 / kWh. So if A has 99 units the bill will be Rs 297 and B has 101 units it will be Rs 707 even though there a difference of only 2 units in the consumption.

The is like the worst case scenario I described but it might be happening with you so you might want to check what you and your neighbour are being charged per unit depending on the slabs in your area. This information is printed on the light bill if you recieve a physical copy.
Click to expand...
That is not true,
A has 99 units the bill will be Rs 297 and B has 101 units
Click to expand...
Bill for B will be charges for 99 + 2 units = 297 + 14 INR = 311 INR
 
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Go to your DISCOM's website and download the bill. It'll have proper break down of all the charges.

It might be penalties. For example, Your connection is sanctioned for 1Kwh and you drew(even for a moment!) 4Kwh from it. It'll record the max draw for 30/60 days and they add penalties for that(or auto upgrade sanctioned load if you keep going over for a few months). With that said, ~5-800rs feels quite high for just penalties.
 
detonator22 said:
For eg. Where I live if your total consumption is < 100 you are billed at ~ Rs 3 / kWh. But if you go above 100 it's Rs 7 / kWh. So if A has 99 units the bill will be Rs 297 and B has 101 units it will be Rs 707 even though there a difference of only 2 units in the consumption.
Click to expand...
This is so wrong and never the case. Billing is always done slab wise. When the slab changes, only the rate for the consumption above slab changes. The consumption below the slab continues to get charged at the lower rate. Please verify what you're saying before you put it on a public forum.
 
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Thanks to all of you.

Crazy_Eddy said:
For your 176 units, your energy charge will be around ~1030 Rs. Plus the fixed charge.
Your neighbour's 164 units should only be (12 x 7.10) ~85 Rs less than your bill.
Click to expand...
But please guys, note that this isn't an exact month usage that I posted, it's from 7th June to 4th July but the real usage should not be too far off.
Crazy_Eddy said:
Don't they give a bill with the proper split up?
Click to expand...
They will come and give us a physical copy, I will upload once I receive that.
ibose said:
Also check for arrears from before. I got a shock this month with my bill doubling but then recalled they charged only 200 bucks last month for some reason.
Click to expand...
This is the case for a lot of people, but it's never low for us for the past few months. Last month was 1800+.
 
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Hachune said:
Hi,
I will start off by saying that I don't know how to calculate the amount of electricity bill I need to pay. The only way I know how is to compare our usage with our neighbour's usage. Since the past few months, our bill has always been more than double our neighbour's but when I think about both our usage, I don't see anything why it should be this much more.

Our Energy meter as per 7th June 2023 :
View attachment 172367


Our Energy meter as per 4th July 2023 :
View attachment 172368


...am I supposed to read the last line written in red too?
Click to expand...
Read is the 10th value, so it is 17731.2 units in this pic, can be ignored for calculations.

Hachune said:
If not, then our usage is as follows :

1. Neighbour's 1 month usage : 17731 - 17567 = 164 kWh
2. Our 1 month usage : 36667 - 36491 =176 kWh

The difference in our usage is only 12 kWh yet they are billed around Rs 850 while we are billed around Rs 1700.
Click to expand...
Sometimes the meter reader doesn't actually come and note down your readings, but just "guesses" it from the comfort of his home. Have a look at the bill and see what reading it states. I think the previous month's reading was lower than actual, so that extra cost got added to this month's bill. Otherwise you shouldn't be paying double of your neighbours.
 
Better to check your bill properly for errors or share here hiding ur details.

I had a similar issue long back and the bill was 5x of what we usually got. Initially thought wtf, but they messed up their billing system, and I was billed till 2025 for some reason.
Later they came and rectified the issue. Since then I always check whether the bill matches the meter reading.
Also these fellows don't maintain consistency in date of month they bill, so that's another headache of billing.
 
Strange that you still have these analogue meters...
I thought by now all over India digital meters would have become the norm...
May be coz your electricity supply is still under some govt agency not privatised as yet.

Only the bill can tell the difference... As everyone is saying...
But still govt employees are extremely finicky and just do their things on a whim...
Please do keep details of authorities handy to lodge a compliant if at all there have been no arrears, or if your supply hasn't been marked as commercial etc.
May be they didn't take your last bull payment into account and its a simple human error...
 
Guys, the physical copy of the bill arrived, please take a look at it for me. The one difference i notice is the tarriff category, while we are on "COM_LT", neighbour is "DOM_LT", no idea what they are though.

Our bill
DocScanner Jul 12, 2023 3-51 PM.jpg


Neighbour's bill
DocScanner Jul 12, 2023 3-51 PM (1).jpg
 
Hachune said:
So they are charging us as if we are using our electricity to do business?
Click to expand...
That's what it looks like. IIRC,COM_LT is the term used for Commercial Low Tension category.
Are you sure you're using the electricity only for home purpose or some commercial establishment is part of it?
 
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Com is commercial and dom is domestic.
Your supply is registered under commercial category.
Unless you're conducting some business from your home, this might be a mistake and you should get it corrected.
 
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Thanks guys, this definitely is the reason. I should make a complaint, I looked at our old bills and seems like this have been going since last year. I wonder if reimbursement can be done.

Anyways, filing a complaint right away
 
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