Pay up pending electricity bills or lose your salary: Discom tells govt staff

Bhopal: In its ongoing outstanding energy bill recovery drive, the central discom is now targeting govt employees who are defaulters. The outstanding bills have amounted close to Rs 1 cr and the discom has threatened to withhold the salaries of those that do not pay their bills and send a list of defaulters to the department heads and treasury.
In a first, the discom has identified around 500 govt employees in Datia district who have energy bill outstanding of more than Rs 10,000 each.Overall, cumulatively, these employees have more than Rs 1 crore in outstanding bills. These govt officials and employees have been instructed to pay their outstanding bills within seven days, said official sources from the discom. If the bills are not paid, a list of these defaulters will be sent to the department heads and the treasury. The company has stated that those who do not pay their outstanding bills will not receive their salary next month, officials said.
This is the first phase where the company has targeted over 500 officials and employees in various govt offices in Datia district, who collectively owe more than Rs 1 crore.
Managing Director of the central discom, Kshitij Singhal, had written to the collectors of all 16 districts in the company's operational area, urging them to ensure that govt employees pay their dues. Following this, the collectors also wrote to the heads of all departments in their districts, emphasising the need for this action. The letter mentioned that many govt employees, whether regular, contractual, or from external sources, do not regularly pay their electricity bills. Singhal has written a letter to take action against such employees. Through the letter, the collectors instructed the department heads to take appropriate action against employees who do not pay their electricity bills on time, including withholding their salaries or stipends. The company noted that some employees owe bills amounting to lakhs of rupees, the discom said in an official statement.