In a statement, PMK founder S Ramadoss said, "Under the current bimonthly billing system, consumers are forced to pay a large sum at once, imposing a significant financial burden on middle-class and low-income families. If billing is carried out monthly, the smaller amounts can be managed with greater ease. This will also reduce payment delays and subsequent penalties." Ramadoss tied the demand to the state's new power welfare programme. "The newly elected Tamil Nadu government has announced a scheme providing up to 200 units of free electricity. For the full benefits of this scheme to reach the public, reforms must also be undertaken in the electricity assessment and billing methods." Claiming that the public has been raising complaints regarding various discrepancies in the bimonthly meter readings, the PMK leader said, "Consumers frequently suffer due to erroneous entries, inflated unit counts, and arbitrary average calculations." According to him, moving to monthly readings would ensure precise monitoring of electricity consumption. Beyond minimizing errors, this will give consumers a fair opportunity to monitor and regulate their own power usage.
Noting that modern household expenses, including water supply, telephone, internet, gas, and house rent, were structured on a monthly basis, Ramadoss said, "Aligning the electricity bill with this monthly cycle is practically and administratively feasible." "Since Tamil Nadu has already expanded its infrastructure with digital electricity meters, implementing a monthly billing system will not pose any major logistical challenges," he claimed.
