THE practice of issuing utility bills at the end of the month is quite irksome.
Consumers mostly receive their utility billsin the last 10 days of each month, and they all have to be paid off within a week of each other.
This is troublesome for the salaried class and those with limited resources who usually run out of money by the end of month. They either have to borrow money to pay the bills, or are compelled to pay these later when they get their salaries in which case they also have to pay the late payment surcharge.
Given the ballooning gas and electricity tariffs, consumers receive hefty bills and the surcharge happens to be quite high.
During these testing times of exponential inflation, the late payment surcharge adds fuel to the fire.
To resolve this issue, either the utility companies must issue the bills during the first week of every month, when everyone is in a position to pay these bills conveniently, or, else, the late payment surcharge must be reduced so that the already inflation-hit masses may get some relief. The authorities concerned should address this issue on a priority basis.
