Arrears have appeared on a bill you always paid
The symptom: “There is a previous balance on my bill but I have every receipt.”
Short answer. Ask for a ledger statement rather than an explanation — it lists every debit and credit with dates and is the only document a dispute can be tested against. The most common causes are a payment credited to a mistyped reference number, a bank posting that never reached the company, and a charge added after an inspection.
Urgency: Fix before the next bill. Expect: A traced misposted payment is usually transferred within one cycle. An instalment sanction is typically decided within a fortnight.
Why this happens
- A payment posted to the wrong reference
- One mistyped digit at a counter or in an app sends the money to a stranger's account. The receipt is genuine, the payment happened, and your account never saw it.
- A bank posting that failed
- Counter payments travel through a reconciliation file. A failed or delayed file leaves the consumer holding a valid receipt against an unpaid account.
- A detection or assessment charge
- These frequently appear as arrears rather than as a labelled line, which is why an unexplained balance is worth tracing before it is paid.
- An instalment plan starting
- A sanctioned plan on an earlier balance appears as a recurring line, and consumers who agreed it months earlier often do not recognise it.
- Inherited from a previous occupant
- The debt follows the meter. A new occupant inherits whatever was left unpaid, which is what a no-dues certificate at transfer exists to prevent.
What to do, in order
- Request a ledger statement in writing. Specify the period — twenty-four months is usually enough. A verbal explanation at the counter cannot be escalated; a statement can.
- Lay your receipts against it. Match by date and amount. The gap will show up as a payment you hold a receipt for that does not appear as a credit, or as a debit you cannot account for.
- For a missing payment, produce the transaction evidence. The receipt, the bank statement line, or the app transaction reference. Where it went to a wrong reference number, the company can trace and transfer the credit — this is routine once the transaction is identified.
- For an unexplained debit, ask what raised it. If the answer is a detection or assessment charge, the dispute route is a different one and the clock on it starts from the notice, not from when you noticed.
- Pay the current month in full and separately. Receipts are applied oldest-first, so paying the current-month figure while arrears sit outstanding leaves the current month partly unpaid and attracts its own surcharge. Clear the current cycle explicitly while the arrears are being traced.
- Ask for instalments on a genuine balance. The sub-divisional officer can sanction a plan, typically three to twelve months, on written application. It appears as its own line on subsequent bills.
What to take with you
- All payment receipts for the period in question
- Bank statement lines or app transaction references
- The bill showing the arrears
If it stalls, escalate in this order
- Sub-divisional officer, with the ledger statement
- Executive engineer where the ledger itself is disputed
- The paying bank, in parallel, where the payment never reached the company at all
Attach the earlier stamped applications at each rung. Starting the story again from the beginning at every level is the slowest possible way to escalate.
Frequently asked questions
I paid through a mobile wallet and it went to the wrong reference. Can it be recovered?
Yes, in most cases. Raise it with both the wallet provider and the company, quoting the transaction reference. The wallet can prove where the money went and the company can transfer the credit to the correct account.
How long do I need to keep electricity bill receipts?
Twelve months at minimum, and longer if you claim the advance income tax deduction, which needs the bills themselves at the end of the tax year. Photographs of receipts are adequate for tracing purposes.
Related problems
- You paid, but the payment has not been credited — The money left my account days ago but the bill still shows unpaid.
- You have been billed twice, or hold two bills for one meter — Two different bills arrived for what I am certain is one connection.
- You have been issued a detection bill — A large charge for past months has appeared on my bill after an inspection.
- You need a no-dues certificate for a property transfer — I am buying or selling a property and need to prove the electricity account is clear.
Background reading
All 17 procedures are listed in the help centre index. For company contact details and helplines, see complaints.