UP News: Power companies will have to improve performance, Regulatory Commission said – burden cannot be put on consumers

In the meeting of the State Advisory Committee of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Monday, the Commission said that the burden of the inefficiency of the power companies cannot be passed on to the consumers. The Commission made it clear that instead of raising rates year after year, power companies will have to focus on improving their performance to tide over the losses.

Regarding the electricity rates for 2022-23, the chairman of the regulatory commission, R.P. In the meeting of the advisory committee chaired by Singh, the members gave their views on electricity rates. State Electricity Consumer Council President Awadhesh Kumar Verma advocated a seven percent reduction in electricity rates every year for the next five years instead of Rs 22,045 crore being released by the power companies to the consumers.

He said that it is wrong for the power companies to say that the matter is in the Appellate Tribunal as the Tribunal has neither given a stay nor any interim order. Verma Noida power company ltd. (NPCL) also raised the demand of giving the regulatory benefit of Rs 1176 crore to the consumers of the Greater Noida area in the form of a reduction in electricity rates.

Some other members including Dr. Bharatraj Singh supported him. He opposed the submission of slab change saying that since the commission chairman refused to see it in the public hearing, it would be a betrayal of the public to discuss it in the meeting. It should be rejected. Many members supported it. Verma also opposed the increase in transmission tariff.

Principal Secretary Energy M. Devraj requested the commission to accept the distribution losses approved by the central government in the revamped scheme, to which the chairman of the commission objected and said that the commission would take action only based on the approved losses in the business plan. The consumers of the state will not bear the brunt of anyone's incompetence.

On the issue of implementation of green tariffs in the state, several members suggested that it should be considered later. In the meeting, members of the Commission Kaushal Kishore Sharma, Vinod Kumar Srivastava, Principal Secretary Energy M. Devraj, MD of Power Corporation Pankaj Kumar, MD of Madhyanchal Distribution Corporation, Director of NEDA, Director of Metro Rail, Agriculture and Food Department officials including IIA. Other members were present.

reduce the rate of industries or else there will be migration

The representative of the Indian Industry Association (IIA) said that the electricity rate of industries in UP is very high. It is necessary to reduce it, otherwise, there will be a situation of migration of industries from the state. He also put some figures of the UDAY scheme on which the commission said that it will look at it in its way.

Raising the issue of cross-subsidy on behalf of IIA, it was said to impose a uniform tariff on all, to which the consumer council president objected and said that farmers have a moral right to get cheap electricity. There is a big difference between industries and farmers. The cross-subsidy should continue. The Consumer Council also appreciated the campaign being run by the Power Corporation Management against corruption. The surplus money withdrawn by Power Corporation as a regulatory asset was also opposed.

A meter should be installed at the house of departmental personnel

Member of Regulatory Commission Vinod Kumar Srivastava raised the issue of the installation of meters in the houses of departmental personnel and said that there is a large-scale misuse of electricity. Showing a clipping of a news published in Amar Ujala, he said that a contract worker who got a salary of Rs 10,000 was caught stealing electricity worth 20 thousand. The consumer council requested the chairman of the commission to consider it seriously and said that the matter has been raised by the commission member, so a penalty of up to 15 times should be considered. This will automatically change the position.

Torrent power to be audited

Raising the issue of torrent power, the consumer council said that in the previous government, this contract was given at a tariff lower than the bulk supply, which is a big scam. Its parameters should be reconsidered. Torrent Power is making a profit by hiding data. It should be internally audited. The commission chairman asked the principal secretary, energy, to look into the matter seriously. Principal Secretary Energy said that the matter has also come up in a committee of the Legislative Assembly. The government will take an appropriate decision on this.

A member Dr. Vijayraj Singh sent an SMS by cyber thugs

Raised the issue of cheating consumers. Supporting this, the consumer council president said that cheating is happening all over the country. This should be stopped. The commission chairman asked the principal secretary of energy to take cognizance of it.

The excess amount recovered from Lifeline consumers will be refunded

The issue of the collection of more bills from 1.20 crore lifeline consumers also came up in the meeting. On this, the Chairman of the Commission said that in the public hearing, demand has been raised to give exemption to these consumers and adjustment of the excess amount collected. How will this be done? Principal Secretary Energy said that it would be tested. If need be, a discount will be given or an additional amount will be adjusted in future bills.

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