Margao: Residents of Curchorem have complained of unusually high electricity bills, with an Assolda stone crusher unit owner receiving a bill of nearly Rs 6 lakh for a six-month period against his usual monthly bills of around Rs 23,000-Rs 24,000.The owner said he was warned of disconnection if he failed to pay immediately. He made a part payment of Rs 1 lakh. He said that when he visited the office of the assistant engineer, Curchorem, the staff could not offer a convincing explanation.“I used to get a bill of Rs 23,000-24,000 every month. I showed them my bills for the past eight months, but it made no difference,” he said. “I cannot afford to pay this amount. I told them to give me a sweeper’s job so that I can pay the bill, and that I will shut down the stone crusher.”Another consumer received a bill of Rs 46,000. When he complained, he was told that as meter readings could not be taken, an approximate value was used for calculation.Social activist Dattaraj Raut Dessai questioned why consumers should suffer because of a faulty meter reader or the department’s inability to take correct readings. “Why should the consumer pay for the department’s failure?” he asked.In June, govt withdrew penalties for exceeding sanctioned load, following public backlash. Nevertheless, complaints of inflated bills have continued to pour in across South Goa since then.Earlier, superintending engineer Rajiv Samant had attributed the spike to higher consumption and steep tariff hikes approved by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC). He said the tariff had been hiked twice within seven months, in Oct 2025 and April 2026, and that the fuel and power buy cost adjustment (FPPCA) charge also rises with consumption. He maintained that penalties for surplus demand had been waived and no penal charges had been levied on any subscriber since.Power minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar had then advised consumers still receiving high bills to approach the offices of the assistant engineers or executive engineers to get them verified and corrected. If an error is found after payment, the excess amount would be adjusted in the following month’s bill, he had said.Consumers in Curchorem, however, say they are yet to get clear answers.
