Pratap Hogade said the regulatory body in last September had passed an order of tariff hike for MSEDL and allowed a 3% hike.
President of the Maharashtra State Power Consumers’ Association (MSPCA), Pratap Hogade, said on Saturday that the tariff proposal by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) indicated that power consumers were bearing more and more burden of the tariff hike and the regulatory body seemed helpless about it.
The power utility had submitted a petition to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for a proposed tariff hike. Hogade told DNA, “There is nothing positive about the proposal. Power tariff for industries in the state is the highest in the country and still, the utility is asking for more tariff.’’
Hogade said the regulatory body in last September had passed an order of tariff hike for MSEDL and allowed a 3% hike.
Subsequently, the MERC allowed more revenue to be recovered from consumers and ultimately, there was a 11% tariff hike in last 10 months. Now, considering the demand for additional revenue by MSEDCL and other power companies, the effective demand for tariff hike is 22%.
President of Sajag Nagrik Manch (SNM) Vivek Velankar told DNA that the proposed hike of tariff by 40% for power consumption of up to 100 units per month would hit poor and lower middle class
consumers.
Velankar said the demand of MSEDCL to double the fixed charges was rejected for last two years and yet the power utility has made the same proposal this year. There should not be any increase in the fixed charges. The power tariff hike for domestic consumers should not be more than 5%, he added.
According to Velankar, the expenditure on repairs and maintenance has been reduced by Rs54 crore. This reduction affects quality of power supply and it ultimately, affects consumers.
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