Now, Meter Reader Beaten Up For Asking To Pay Electricity Bill In Karnataka

An incident of a meter reader from the electricity department getting beaten up for asking to pay the bill has come to light in Koppal where some people had recently asked the BESCOM officials to collect their power bills from Congress.

The said official had gone to Chandrashekariah's house asking him to clear the pending dues of the electricity department. However, he refused to pay the amount and reportedly abused the meter reader. The official lost cool when Chandrashekariah used cuss language, according to a report.

As their war of words continued, Chandrashekariah beat up the official in his slipper. A case has been filed at Munirabad police station in this regard.

Congress had promised the voters of Karnataka of giving 200 units of electricity for free. In fact, this was one of the key guarantees that resonated with the voters, according to poll pundits.

Recently, there were reports of people in Koppal refusing to pay electricity bills. "We won't pay the current bill. No matter what, we are promised 200 units of free power and we will have it. Even if the CM is not there yet," India Today quoted a person as saying.

BJP leader Amit Malviya had recently posted a video in which people in Chitradurga claim that they will not pay the electricity bill for this month. "Villagers in Chitradurga refuse to pay the electricity bill. Exhort others also not to pay! They tell the bill collector that Congress had promised them free electricity, as soon as they came to power... Go take it from them (Congress), they say... If Congress doesn't give a CM soon, there will be chaos all around...," he wrote on Twitter.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after taking the oath, said that Congress will keep all the poll promises. However, it will come into effect after getting approval from the cabinet.

On the other hand, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has given a nod to raise the power tariff by 70 paise per unit. The new tariff has come into effect from April 1.