Scam alert: TGSPDCL alerts consumers about fake electricity bills payment scam in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TGSPDCL) chairman and managing director, Musharraf Ali Faruqui has appealed to electricity consumers not to believe fraudulent calls/messages on electricity bills payment.

This comes after worried consumers raised the issue with energy department officials. Scammers targeted many electrical consumers in the city, threatening to interrupt their power supply if they did not pay their bills. Many customers received messages from the scammers on WhatsApp on Saturday as well, threatening to cut off their power supply after 7:30 p.m. since the previous month's bill had not been updated.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Musharraf Faruqui said that they came to know that some people are sending fraudulent messages to electricity consumers in the guise of supply will be cut today after 7:30 pm due to last month's bill amount is not updated call immediately on Whatsapp if fails to payment of bill immediately. They are collecting the details of bank accounts/credit card/debit cards and withdrawing the amounts from the consumer’s accounts illegally.

“In this regard, it is to inform that, the messages sent by the TGSPDCL contain Department name, USC / service number, consumer name and the bill amount. The TGSPDCL never sends messages from a mobile number. The TGSPDCL employees never collect the details of bank accounts / debit cards / credit cards except the payment receipt bill. And the company cannot send any website links through SMS/message for payment of bills,” the TGSPDCL CMD said.

The TGSPDCL informs the consumers of current monthly bills and arrears through electricity bills. Consumers can also access information about current consumption bills and arrears through the company website http://tgsouthernpower.org or the TGSPDCL mobile app. Further, the company cannot disconnect the power supply overnight/midnight, he added.

Musharraf Fariqui also appealed to consumers not to share the details of bank accounts/credit card/debit cards and not to follow the suspicious links for payment of electricity bills.