Man commits suicide after getting $13,000 electricity bill in India

An Indian man allegedly took his own life after getting an electric bill of nearly $13,000 in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Jagannath Shelke, 36, left behind a suicide note in which he said that the bill was "very high", his family said.

Officials said the actual bill was just around $42.

His family alleged that officials did not help him although he approached them.

They said he had made multiple trips to the state-run electricity board.

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Police have lodged a complaint against an official of the electricity board for sending an incorrect bill. The board also suspended him after Shelke's note was widely circulated on social media.


Shelke had been charged for 61,178 units of electricity when he should have been charged for 6,117.8 units.

Since officials had read the meter incorrectly, they generated a bill for the incorrect amount.

"The bill was erroneous because of a missing decimal point," Suresh Ganeshkar, a senior engineer said adding that "we have taken action against the employee who is responsible".

He said the issue had not been resolved because Shelke did not register a written complaint with the board. He had received the bill in the last week of April for the month of March.

"Eight days ago my brother called me. He was worried about the huge amount," Shelke's brother, Vitthal, said. "He told me that officials were threatening to confiscate his property."

Shelke's daughter, Ashwini, alleged that her father had died because of the system's failure.

"My father was under a huge financial burden and the exorbitant electricity bill was a big shock for him," she added.

This article originally appeared in the BBC.