When Krishna Prasad returned to his home in Indian district Ranchi from a wedding few days ago, he was in for a shock. A whopping Rs 55 crore monthly electricity bill had been delivered to his house.

"You know my mother could have died because of this. I will take these people to court," said an infuriated Prasad whose 55-year-old mother, shaken by the astronomical bill, had to be taken to a doctor.

The family of five stays in a modest, two-bedroom house in Kadru area in Ranchi and does not even use an air conditioner despite the sweltering heat.

Most parts of the city face acute power cuts during summers and this year is no different, with outages extending to about 7 -8 hours every day.

The Jharkhand electricity department has suspended two of its employees, and says the bill could have been a result of a clerical error.

The entire work of delivering power bills has been outsourced to a private entity, and officials say they are investigating the incident.