Residents, assns oppose power tariff hike proposal

CHANDIGARH: Residents and various associations have opposed the proposal of hike in power tariff before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) that held a public hearing on the tariff petition filed by the Electricity Department at the Auditorium Hall, Government Art and Museum, in Sector 10 here today.

Officials of the JERC during public hearing at the Government Museum and Art Gallery at Sector 10 in Chandigarh on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 13

Residents and various associations have opposed the proposal of hike in power tariff before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) that held a public hearing on the tariff petition filed by the Electricity Department at the Auditorium Hall, Government Art and Museum, in Sector 10 here today.

The department has proposed 21 per cent hike in power tariff for all types of consumers in a petition filed for next financial year 2018-19. The department has proposed to increase the rates to overcome the losses it has been incurring over the years.

Former Union Minister and Pawan Kumar Bansal condemned the proposed hike in electricity charges by the UT Administration.

In his representation to the JERC, Bansal pointed out the fact that the penalty of inefficiency and failure to curtail wasteful expenditure and transmission and distribution on part of the Electricity Department cannot be imposed on the end customer. The easy route hiking the power tariff is not only wrongful but also will not be able to solve the problems from the grassroots level.

Inversely, it will complicate the matter further and put more burden on people who are already reeling under record inflation. The UT Powermen Union raised the issue of shortage of staff, safety devices and training to field staff. Advocate Ajay Jagga stressed the need for recovering pending amount from defaulters. Anil Vohra, Charanjiv Singh of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, along with Kamaljit Singh Panchi, took a strong stand against the proposed hike in power tariff.

Arun Mahajan, former president of the Industries Association, also opposed the hike in the rates. He said there was a need to increase the allocation of power to the UT as the demand had been increasing day by day.

Naveen Manglani, president of the Chamber of Chandigarh Industries, demanded to scrap the FPPCA charges. Baljinder Singh Bittu, president, FOSWAC, said the FPPCA charges were unjustified and rates should not be hiked further.