Samajwadi Party has demanded that the proposal to hike power tariff be withdrawn immediately as it is not only anti-people but also demonstrates the Yogi Adityanath government’s insensitivity towards the common man.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav said here on Sunday that the proposal to hike power tariff, submitted by the UP Power Corporation Limited to power regulator UP State Electricity Regulatory Commission, was injustice with the people below poverty line and the urban middle class.
He said it was a double whammy for the power consumers as one the one hand power supply was very erratic at the height of the summer and, on the other, power tariff was being hiked.
UP Power Consumers’ Council chairman Avadhesh Kumar Verma has alleged that the yawning revenue-expenditure gap and the projected loss by the state power utility is due to its inability to bring down the line losses which are still over 30 percent against the norm of 15 percent.
Moreover, he said, the gross inefficiency of the UPPCL management, apart from the procurement of expensive power, was behind the power corporation decision to seek hike in power tariff.
“The Power Consumers’ Council will not allow such a steep hike in power tariff for domestic consumers. We will soon chalk out our next course of action to oppose this unjustified proposal,” he said, adding that his organisation would take to streets if the proposed higher tariffs were approved by the UPSERC.
The UPPCL has proposed more than 25 per cent hike in power tariff for domestic consumers. Against the prevailing power tariff of Rs 4.90 per unit for the first 150 units of monthly consumption, the UPPCL has proposed to increase the slab by more than 26 per cent to Rs 6.20 per unit.
Similarly, the variable slabs for power consumption between 151-300 units, 301-500 units and 500 units upwards have been proposed to be increased by 12-20 per cent to Rs 6.50 unit from the present Rs 5.40, Rs 7 per unit from Rs 6.20 and Rs 7.50 per unit from the present Rs 6.50, respectively.
Additionally, the fixed monthly charge for a domestic connection is also proposed to be increased by 10 per cent.
Besides, the power tariffs for the state commercial sector consumers have also been proposed to be hiked by 10-15 per cent.
The UPPCL has already submitted the proposed new power tariff structure for 2019-20 to the UPERC for vetting and final approval.
Now, the power regulator would hold public hearing and issue a public notice before taking a call on the new tariff order for the current financial year.
Interestingly, the state power utility had kept power tariffs unchanged for 2018-19 in run-up to the Lok Sabha elections and to keep the different categories of consumers in good humour.
Power tariffs had witnessed a hike in November 2017, when the UPERC, while sparing the industrial sector from any increase for 2017-18, had announced an average tariff rise of 12.72 per cent across board.
The average power tariff hike was then steepest compared to preceding two years with average hike in 2015-16 and 2016-17 figuring at 5.47 per cent and 3.18 per cent, respectively.
The state Energy department has sought to justify the proposed hike in power tariff for the current year citing steeper prices of fuel, including coal, and consequently the higher cost of power generation.
In its proposal filed with the UPERC, the power utility has pegged 2019-20 annual revenue requirements (ARR) at Rs 76,495 crore, while estimating the revenue-expenditure gap at Rs 18,091 crore, thus offering a justification for increasing power tariffs in the state for economic viability and sustainability.