Consumers of Ahmedabad and Surat have opposed the proposed tariff hike by Torrent Power Ltd (TPL) in Ahmedabad, Surat and Gandhinagar. In a hearing at the Gujarat Electricity Regularity Commission (GERC), the consumers said that the request for tariff hike is unjustified and will add to their burden.
TPL submitted a proposal in June this year to GERC to hike tariff by 15 %. KK Bajaj, director, Consumer Education and Research Centre, said that TPL should cut down its cost by making its operation more efficient. He said the company also needs to bring down its raw material cost instead of hiking tariff. He suggested four slabs for residential consumers of Ahmedabad, rather than the current three slabs. “There should be separate formula for determination of fuel cost and power purchase cost,” he said.
He said that companies have been late in filing annual performance report and annual revenue requirement report for the past few years. He suggested that tariff approved by the commission should be made applicable till March 2011. He added that company should replace old electric meters. Bharat Gohil, president of Utility Users Welfare Association said that consumers have been adversely affected by the ongoing slowdown.
Textile, diamond, chemical and other sectors have seen their orders cancelled and workers laid off. This in turn has reduced their paying capacity. Commodity prices have also gone up. Increase in tariff will only aggravate the problem for consumers, said Gohil.
TPL earned a profit of around Rs400 crore in 2008-09 and there is no need to increase the tariff, Gohil said. The association said that the salary and perks of the chairman, the managing director and other highly paid employees should be regulated.
Replying to the suggestions made by the consumer associations, representative of TPL said that according to the provisions of electricity act the base for tariff hike is the cost of generation of electricity and not the profit or loss of the company.
They said increase in the cost of generation of electricity has compelled the company to seek a hike. On the matter of introduction of a new slab for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, and having a separate formula for determining fuel cost, power purchase cost and other matters, the representative said that submission will be made after the hearing.
