Electricity Bill Shocks Poor & Middle Class In Dravidian Model Tamil Nadu, Residents Say They’re Forced To Pay Several Thousands

This is so unfair! When I asked why it’s like this, they said the government increased the current bill. When I asked them, ‘Why are you doing this?’, they told me to ask the government and questioned why I was asking them. What answer can I give? When I asked them to write it on a card, they refused. They said we’d only get a message. And when we see the message, it’s such a huge bill. What are we supposed to do? We’re struggling for our basic necessities. If you charge so much for electricity, what will we do? This government gives people ₹1,000 and then takes back ₹10,000. Doesn’t this seem unfair? Won’t anyone question this?”

Another local resident, Sujatha, echoed similar concerns, “Hello, my name is Sujatha. I’m speaking from Raja Kadai, Thiruvottiyur. The electricity bill is coming very high, and when we ask, they say the government has increased it. We don’t know what to do. Should we manage our family expenses or pay the electricity bill? Even when we buy a store, it’s cheaper, only ₹5,000. But when the current bill is ₹8,000, it breaks our heart. We don’t know what to do. My bill usually comes to ₹3,000, and only in May, it might be around ₹5,000 because we use AC a bit more then. Now, we’re using AC less because the bill is high, but it’s still ₹8,000. We just don’t know what to do. They said they increased it once before, and even then, it wasn’t this much. Now they’re saying they haven’t increased it, but it’s still this high. So, what is this then? The government should answer us. They give ₹1,000, but even that we don’t get. Others say they get ₹1,000, but we don’t know to what extent. They say they’re giving ₹1,000 but have increased the prices of everything and raised taxes. We pay house tax, water tax, everything. Everything is expensive. What are we supposed to do?”

Jhansi, another woman from the same area, highlighted the burden on pensioners and small families, “My name is Jhansi, and I live in Sivagangapuram, Raja Kadai, Thiruvottiyur. Looking at last March and January, my electricity bill was only ₹1,700 or ₹1,600. But this month, it’s ₹7,517. This ₹7,000… My father used to work in a private office. His pension is only ₹4,500, and this electricity bill is double that. What will my family do? Why is this government like this? Is there no one to question this? If this continues, what will everyone do? We can’t even buy essential things now. Everything’s rates have gone up. And now they’ve increased the electricity bill too. If we ask them to write down the units, they won’t (in the card). So what are we supposed to do? If they wrote down the units, we could calculate it by comparing it with last month’s bill, but they don’t do that. When asked, they just say the current bill has gone up. What are we supposed to do?”

An elderly woman from the same locality shared a similar experience, “Our electricity bill is very high; we can’t stay on the upper floor. It’s too much. My daughter isn’t even at home 24 hours; she’s gone out. Yet, her bill is around ₹7,000. In total, for both of us, it’s around ₹18,000. It used to be ₹6,000, ₹3,000, ₹1,500 per month, but now it’s a lot. If you ask about it, they don’t say anything. They’re telling everyone to pay through their phones now; they don’t write anything on cards. They just send a message saying the amount has come to this much.”