Why is there a security deposit on my Maharashtra electricity bill?
MSEDCL keeps a security deposit equal to twice your average monthly bill. Each financial year it recalculates the deposit from your actual bills. If the deposit is too small, it asks you for an additional security deposit.
- Reviewed every year
- Top-up: additional security deposit
- Prepaid meters: no deposit
Check your deposit
How MSEDCL reviews the deposit
- MSEDCL recalculates the deposit once in each financial year from your actual billing.
- The required deposit is twice your average monthly bill. The average uses the last 12 months, or a shorter period for a newer connection.
- Additional security deposit = required deposit minus the deposit held.
- MSEDCL does not revise the deposit at the start of the year for a connection less than 3 months old.
- MSEDCL first sets the year's deposit interest against any additional security deposit demand.
- You get at least 30 days to pay the demand.
If you hold more than needed
- MSEDCL refunds the excess by adjustment in your next bill.
Deposit for a new connection
- MSEDCL estimates the deposit from your tariff category, sanctioned load and load factor.
- MSEDCL must publish its method on its website.
- Its published table for LT residential gives Rs 1,500 for 1 kW.
- The table adds Rs 750 per kW from 1 kW to 10 kW, and Rs 375 per kW above 10 kW.
- Examples from the table: 2 kW Rs 2,250; 5 kW Rs 4,500; 10 kW Rs 8,250.
Interest and prepaid meters
- MSEDCL pays interest at the RBI Bank Rate on a cash deposit of Rs 50 or more.
- Interest runs from the date of deposit until MSEDCL dispatches the refund.
- MSEDCL uses the Bank Rate on 1 April and adjusts the interest in your bill after TDS.
- For 2024-25, MSEDCL applied 6.75% a year.
- MSEDCL collects no security deposit with a prepaid meter, and it refunds an existing deposit or treats it as prepaid credit.
What we could not confirm
- We found no MSEDCL interest rate circular for 2025-26 or 2026-27.
- The regulation does not say if you can pay a yearly demand in instalments.
- The regulation does not say what happens if you do not pay. The Electricity Act lets a discom stop supply while the failure continues.
- The MSEDCL deposit table has no date. It may not show current tariffs.
- We could not read the deposit label on the MSEDCL sample bill.
- MSEDCL's FAQ page still describes an older rule. The 2021 Supply Code replaces it.
- News reports say MSEDCL asked consumers for additional deposits in April 2026; we found no official order.
Questions
Why did my bill ask for an additional security deposit?
Each year MSEDCL checks the deposit against twice your average monthly bill. If your bills went up, it asks for the difference.
Does MSEDCL use my deposit interest?
Yes. MSEDCL first sets the year's interest against any additional security deposit demand. It credits the rest in your bill.
How long do I have to pay?
You get at least 30 days from the demand.
Do I need a deposit with a prepaid meter?
No. MSEDCL does not collect a deposit with a prepaid meter.
Sources
- MERC Supply Code and SoP Regulations 2021, reg. 13.2-13.12
- MERC Statement of Reasons, Supply Code (First Amendment) 2024, p.7-8
- MSEDCL Security Deposit for prospective LT consumers, LT Residential
- MSEDCL Commercial Circular No. 349 (28-04-2025), interest on SD for FY 2024-25
Read on 16 October 2026.
ebbillcalc is not part of any discom or regulator. The regulations and your discom have the final word.