Patna, May 9: Inflated electricity bills and bribe for new connections continue to plague the residents of the state capital, five months into redressal camps organised by the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB).

This was evident after The Telegraph spoke to around 12 people, who had come to the BSEB’s state-level consumers’ redressal camp in Patna today.

Dr Shivanandan Singh, a resident of Shashtrinagar, said he has been receiving inconsistent and inflated bills in recent months.

“Normally, I get around 60 to 100 power units every month. But at an interval of five to six months I receive inflated bills. In January, I got a bill that showed power consumption of more than 1,228 units. Again in March, I got a bill for 1,523 units. I deposited the amount but the Pesu officials said it can’t be adjusted, as the bill has been generated after consumption,” said Singh.

Rajiv Ranjan, a resident of Bailey Road, said: “I have been getting inflated bills since 2008. I have approached all officials concerned but nothing has been done to rectify it. This is my second consecutive visit to the chairman’s janata darbar that has come to no value.”

BSEB chairman P.K. Rai, secretary Ganesh Prasad, Cesa general manager B.K. Sinha, Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (west) superintending engineer S.K. Srivastava, Pesu (east) superintending engineer JPN Singh gave a patient hearing to all the complainants and assured to sort out their grievances at the earliest.

Prahalad Kumar Jaiswal, a resident of Danapur, had applied for a new connection in 2009, for which officials demanded Rs 2,500 bribe.

Jaiswal said: “The officials, who demanded a bribe for installing a new connection, said there were dues on the premises. But that is not true. Though I got a favourable order from the consumer grievances redressal forum in March, nothing has happened since then.”

BSEB spokesman H.R. Pandey said the number of complainants at these monthly redressal camps has been dwindling as such camps are organised at the district level too.