Tej Pratap hasn't paid power bill of ₹3.6L for 3yrs
What's the story
Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) leader Tej Pratap Yadav allegedly has not paid his electricity bill of over ₹3.6 lakh for his private residence in Patna's Beur area for three years. Records show no payments have been made for the Beur property since July 2022. Yadav, who recently lost the Bihar Assembly election from the Mahua seat, has been occupying a government bungalow in his capacity as an MLA.
Unpaid bills
Yadav's unpaid dues and state power utility's role
According to India Today, the last payment for Yadav's Beur property was made on July 20, 2022, when ₹1,04,799 was deposited. Since then, the dues have accumulated to ₹3,61,000 due to continuous electricity usage at the property. Interestingly, another connection in Yadav's name has dues of ₹2,30,160 and late-payment fines of ₹23,681. This brings the total outstanding amount for this connection to ₹3,24,974.
Meter system
Bihar's smart prepaid meter system and Yadav's case
Bihar had introduced smart prepaid meters to avoid such huge arrears from piling up. However, Yadav's Beur residence still runs on a postpaid meter. According to company rules, any postpaid connection with dues over ₹25,000 should be disconnected. This raises questions about how Yadav's connection stayed active despite dues crossing ₹3 lakh. The electricity company is now reportedly planning to start recovery proceedings for the pending dues.