In a virtual Diwali gift to the 14.5 million power consumer of the state the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regularity Commission (UPERC) directed the UP PowerCorporation limited (UPPCl) to pay interest on the security deposits of the consumers.
The decision of the UPERC was taken by its chairman Desh Deepak Verma on the demand by UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad made on September 10, 2013. UPSERC secretary Arun Kumar Srivastava in a letter to UPPCl Director Commercial Sanjay Kumar Singh directed him to pay interest on the security deposits of consumers as per the interest rate announced by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).
UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Awadhesh Kumar Verma said here on Thursday that it is a big win for the power consumers in the state and it should be treated as a Diwali gift. As per the figures and RBI orders, the consumers will get an interest rate of 8.50 per cent on their security during 2013-14 while in 2012-13 it would be 9.50 per cent.
UPPCl has a security deposit of around Rs 1574 crores of over 14.5 million consumers and they would have to pay Rs 284 as interest to the consumers. Earlier the UPERC had announced another major sop for the consumer when they said that the last date for depositing the bill should be extended if their is computer failure in the computer of the billing counters.