Legislators today urged the state government to scrap the surcharge levied on consumers when they pay their electricity bills online.
Currently, when a consumer uses MeghaPower, the online portal of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL), they have to pay a surcharge on top of their bill (either prepaid or postpaid).
North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrum questioned Power Minister Prestone Tynsong on this. In reply, Tynsong said that the commission is charged by the bank and not MeECL.
However, what he did not say is that banks usually charge commissions for card payments from the merchant (in this case MeECL). If the merchant refuses to pay the commission, the bank then passes on the cost to the consumer. This is technically legal for online transactions.
What is illegal (but still happens in a few establishments in Shillong, as this reporter has witnessed) is for merchants to charge extra for in-person card payments (which is not allowed). The merchant charges the card for the bill amount but asks for the surcharge to be paid in cash. No receipt for the surcharge is ever presented to the customer.
Several years ago, petrol stations nationwide were also against accepting card payments because of the commission they had to pay to banks. They tried slapping an additional surcharge of 2.5 per cent on consumers or declining the use of cards at all.
Despite the advantages of accepting card payments online – not having to deal with large amounts of hard cash, not have to secure that cash against theft and loss, not having to worry about counterfeit currency, etc – the MeECL is still by default levelling the extra charge on customers.
Nongrum had an ally on this subject in the form of opposition legislator Charles Pyngrope.
“I also make my MeECL payments online and there is a [sur]charge of Rs 5.90. If you go to any other portal, there are no [additional] charges. There was a notification issued by RBI that no payment gateway can charge any additional charges. Will MeECL take this up with the payment gateway, which is Billdesk, and the others?” Pyngrope asked.
Tynsong replied that, for its part, MeECL, which opened MeghaPower in 2014, pays a vendor Rs 2.5 per transaction for dealing with the portal.
Mawlai MLA Process Sawkmie sought for the revenue breakup for 2019-2022 but the minister said that he would require time to compile those details. Tynsong added that the power utility is currently unable to cover its expenses through collecting electricity bills alone.
MLAs also raised complaints made by constituents of overcharging by the MeECL.
Tynsong explained that there is a fixed charge and an energy charge on every bill. The fixed charge has to be paid even if the consumer does not use any electricity in the billing month (or even if the consumer is not supplied any electricity by the company). There are also delayed payment charges of 1 percent on the outstanding bill that is not cleared by the due date.
The minister also explained said that a standing order from the MeECL management requires all field officers to carry out their duties as prescribed while dealing with customers in rural areas. He added that they will try to strengthen procedures and ensure that there is no faulty billing.
