SHILLONG, Aug 5: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who also holds the Power portfolio, said the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) is trying its best to recover the outstanding bills.
He said this while reacting to the RTI findings-based claims by the National Hynniewtrep People Federation that big industries in Umiam and Byrnihat industrial areas have allegedly not paid their electricity bills amounting to almost Rs 44 crore since 2005.
“These defaulters also have to pay the penalty. So, the more they delay, the more penalty they have to pay. We have worked out a system and told them to pay at the earliest. This is an ongoing process,” Tynsong said on Friday.
He said the government has no plan to waive off the outstanding bills.
Reminding that the state government had in 208-19 introduced the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme for pending bills amounting to Rs 20 crore where only the penalty was waived, he said, “The OTS scheme has ended. They need to pay the outstanding along with the penalty.”
Tynsong said the power connections of some of the defaulters had been disconnected as they failed to comply with payment notices.
“Be it coke, cement or any other industrial unit, when the outstanding is huge, the corporation sends notices to either pay up or face disconnection,” he added.
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