HP: Enraged over Rs 6.78 lakh 'inflated' power bill, Cong MLA Bali seeks enquiry

Shimla, Aug 21 (PTI) Congress MLA R S Bali on Thursday took strong exception to an inflated electricity bill of Rs 6.78 lakh issued to him and sought an enquiry into the matter to ascertain whether it was an error or a conspiracy.

When the matter was raised in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly during Zero Hour, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clarified that arrears have been added to electricity bills, but said the invoice has mistakenly shown the figure as Rs 6.48 lakh instead of Rs 2.98 lakh.

Sukhu said even the power bill of his official residence, Oak Over, in Shimla was shown as Rs 3.76 instead of the correct figure of Rs 1.43 lakhs. Action will be taken against officials if it is found that the bills were inflated deliberately, he said.

Addressing a press conference in the assembly complex here, Bali said the data about the electricity bills was placed in the state assembly and is a part of the proceedings.

The data was furnished in reply to a question of MLA Sudhir Sharma and was later published in newspapers.

Bali, who is also the chairman of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, said Sharma had sought 14 months of electricity bills for the residences of 10 Congress leaders, including the chief minister, his deputy, ministers and himself, all occupying government residences.

"In the reply, the bill for my official residence, 9A Grand Lodge, was shown as Rs 6.78 lakh, and this became part of the Assembly record," he said.

The MLA said an analysis of the bill found that it was inflated. Bali also said that he moved into the residence in July 2023, but the bill was issued from January 2023. "But when I asked for the details from January 2023 to July 2025, my actual bill for 32 months came to Rs 2,98,308, much less than the issued bill of Rs 6.78 lakh," he said. PTI BPL NSD NSD