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Electricity Bill Payment Rules: Late Fee Surcharge (DPS) will be removed from the electricity bill. The electricity company has started the process for this. The company has filed a petition in the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission. As soon as the Commission's decision comes, DPS will be removed from the electricity bill. However, the decision to remove DPS will be applicable only on smart prepaid meters. According to company officials, one and a half (1.50) percent DPS is charged from consumers as per the decision given by the Regulatory Commission in previous years. This amount is recovered when an electricity consumer does not pay the electricity bill by the date specified by the company.
This amount keeps increasing every month due to non-payment of electricity bill. After the installation of smart prepaid meters in Bihar, consumers deposit advance amount in smart meters. Therefore the rule of timely bill payment has now become unimportant. But it is legally necessary to remove the rule of removing DPS being collected by the company. Therefore, the power company has filed a petition before the Regulatory Commission for amendment in the supply code. Hearing on this is going on from the Commission and a decision will be taken soon.
The company is paying interest on advance deposits. If consumers installing smart prepaid meters are depositing advance amount, then they are being given more interest than the bank. Consumers will have to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 2000 in their account. On maintaining a minimum balance of Rs 2000 every day for three months in smart prepaid meter, 6.75 percent interest is being given. For maintaining a balance of more than Rs 2000 continuously for three to six months, consumers are being given 0.25 percent additional interest on the interest rate.