The lockdown led to an increase in electricity consumption. People have been paying much more for electricity in the last few months. 

In a recent announcement, Energy Minister Nitin Raut declared that state-owned Mahavitarans consumers can now pay their June bills in Equated Monthly Installments (EMI).  He also announced that the consumers who pay the bills in one go can also avail a rebate of 2 per cent. 

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission also directed the power suppliers to deal with consumer complaints of inflated bills.  

However, on this matter, Raut reiterated that the inflated bills were due to high power consumption at home during the lockdown months of April and May.

Mahavitaran distributes power to eastern suburbs of the city and the districts outside Mumbai.

Following Raut's announcement, a successive announcement was made by Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) also announced an EMI offer for its consumers. The AEML supplies electricity from Bandra - Bhayandar and Kurla - Mankhurd. The EMI offer is extended from three - 24 months for the consumers who pay the bill using the app or website at "nominal chargers."

The announcement also mentions that if the meter readings pushed consumers to a higher tax slab then the extra units will be divided between June and July. 

Over the last few months, citizens have been irritated with the inflated amounts of electricity bills. People have received bills as high as Rs 50,000 and have been blaming the meter readings. People have claimed that the meter reading is faulty and hence are being charged with hefty bill amounts. 

During the lockdown, the four companies - Mahavitaran, AEML, BEST, TATA - supplying electricity to the state had suspended meter readings. For April and May, the bills were calculated on the basis of the average consumption of the last three months. 

After easing of the lockdown on May 31, these companies sent out employees to gather meter readings and compute balance amounts due for April and May.