Power tarrif hike becomes a shock for puneites

Maharashtra electricity regulatory commission announced a hike in power tariff for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. _Since last year, prices of many essential commodities have

gone up and it is becoming difficult for the common man to balance his budget. The Maharashtra electricity regulatory commission (Merc), in an interim order on Monday, announced a hike in

power tariff for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers. Speak Up speaks to citizens and activists _ Improve vigilance to check power theft The Maharashtra State Electricity

Distribution Company Limited (MahaDiscom) suffers transmission and distribution losses, which are over 30 to 40% of their revenue. If they can reduce electricity losses due to power theft

and transmission and distribution losses, they can considerably reduce their revenue losses. In my opinion, they must focus on reducing their losses. They must also concentrate on how to

generate power at low cost. Why not build more hydropower generating stations at various dams? Thermal power is a cheaper option. The recent power hike will obviously affect the industry.

Instead of hiking the power tariff, they should improve their vigilance and check who is stealing power and set up a good recovery system. This is mismanagement by MahaDiscom and what they

need is good vigilance. _Arun Firodia, Chairman, Kinetic Group_ The hike will badly affect the common man The middle class is already struggling to adjust their budget when prices of

essential commodities are increasing frequently. Nobody tries to understand the plight of the common man. This rise in power tariff will be a shocker for us when we will get the electricity

bill next month. The power consumption of the middle class ranges anywhere from 200 to 500 units with the bill ranging from Rs200 to 800. The additional burden is going to be costly. The

recent hike in petrol prices and simultaneous power tariff hike will affect the common man badly. This hike is going to affect the prices of essential commodities. _Varsha Balamurugan,

Homemaker         _ We are going to challenge Merc’s order in tribunal This is the first such order, which is unreasonable, wherein no objection of stakeholders or consumers has been noted,

before taking the decision. Hence, this order is not legal. Since September 9, 2010 when the first order was issued, till the recent interim order, a burden of over Rs6,000 crore has been

passed on to the consumers. MahaDiscom is inefficient for which consumers have to pay. We are going to challenge Merc’s order in the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity in New Delhi.    

_Pratap Hogade, President, Maharashtra State Power Consumers Association _ MAHADISCOM IS INCAPABLE OF DOING ITS JOB The rising inflation has already increased the cost of living and it is

becoming very difficult for the common man to manage. This power tariff hike will further make a dent in our tight budget. I think the phenomenon of rising prices is going beyond our

control. Why should the common man suffer the burden of losses, incurred by MahaDiscom, because of its mismanagement and sheer negligence? MahaDiscom is not capable of doing its job. If it

will hike the power tariff today, it will not be the end. They will increase it again to cover the losses they have incurred due to their mismanagement. The public is already fed up with

power cuts and irregular power distribution. Instead of improving their system, they are just recovering their losses by charging their consumers more. It is their failure. How can they tax

us for their failure?        _Sambhajirao Patil, Senior citizen_ Present supporting evidence to justify hike Load-shedding and power tariff hike are issues which must be looked into

differently. MahaDiscom has claimed that they have hiked the power tariff as an interim relief from the precarious financial position they are in at present. The power utility is to be

blamed and it must present substantial evidence to prove its standing. This hike is a drastic step taken by the utility. It has only given reasons of depletion of working capital which had

forced it to borrow heavily. This is what it claims, which is not transparent enough. The arrears accumulated over five years, which they have not been able to recover from consumers, have

gone over Rs15,000 crore. In my opinion, if it is hiking the power tariff, which is an interim order, it must present supporting evidence.     _Ashwini Chitnis, Senior Research Associate,

Prayas Energy Group_ Power tariff hike will badly affect industries The load-shedding situation has improved in Pune, from what it was before Diwali. The interim relief shows the

inefficiency and lethargic approach of Merc. It is nothing but the arm-twisting policy of MahaDiscom that Merc has given an interim relief order for a hike in power tariff. One good thing is

that domestic consumers who are using less than 100 units have to pay only 25 paise extra. The industry has been again burdened with this power tariff hike, which is going to eat into their

profits. Companies prefer not to come to Maharashtra because of power shortage and high cost of power tariff. This hike is going to have a spiral effect on many things down the line. Though

this is an interim order, I don’t think there will be more increase slated in the final order. Only an increase in fixed charges is expected in the final order, which will be another shock

for the consumers. _Vivek Velankar, President, Sajag Nagrik Manch _