Aurangabad, Feb 8 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has sent disconnection notices via SMS to nearly 10 lakh consumers in eight districts of Marathwada, a senior official said on Monday.

MSEDCL joint managing director Naresh Gite said outstanding power bills in the region had gone up, especially during the coronavirus-induced lockdown when a large number of bills remained unpaid.

"The MSEDCL has sent disconnection notices to 9,97,397 consumers in Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Hingoli, Osmanabad, Latur, Parbhani and Nanded districts. The notices have been sent via SMS, and 8,09,573 consumers have received them," he told PTI.

Gite said pending bills, as of January this year, stood at Rs 683 crore in these eight districts, up from Rs 388 crore in January last year.

However, he said, MSEDCL was making efforts to increase recovery of bills.

"In January last year, the bills generated totaled Rs 564 crore, of which we managed to recover Rs 489 crore. This January, the bill amount was Rs 588 crore and we recovered Rs 553 crore," the MSEDCL JMD informed.

Another official said, of the 9.97 lakh consumers who are yet to pay their bills, Aurangabad and Jalna accounted for 3,16,135, Beed, Latur and Osmanabad 3,59,938, Nanded, Hingoli and Parbhani 3,21,234.

MSEDCL has 38 lakh consumers in Marathwada, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)