Domestic power consumers across Chhattisgarh have hailed the passage of a bill in the Chhattisgarh Assembly while making way for a proposal to bring down electricity duty from the highs of 14, 15 and 23 per cent to a flat 8 per cent for all categories.
While the announcement is being billed as an obvious ‘poll time sop’ for consumers with the forthcoming Assembly elections in mind, nevertheless, domestic consumers The Pioneer spoke to believe political agendas don’t matter as long as it benefits them and suits their small budgets
“Even a small concession in power tariff for domestic consumers means a lot for most of the middle class population, as annually, it adds up to a substantial savings" said Aarti Singh, a home maker in Raipur from Shankar Nagar. “It’s a welcome decision for the consumers as power bills form a significant part of the monthly budget,” she remarked.
“Most consumers do not understand how much of the electricity duty cut in their bills would benefit them. However, any cut in the power tariff rates is welcome,” said Rita Rai, another home maker from Rajiv Nagar in Raipur.
She said that the terms in electricity bills must be simplified as most housewives do not understand how the power tariff had been calculated in them due to too many technicalities mentioned in them.
“Household budgets in rural areas are the smallest. In such a scenario, if a power tariff reduction is announced by the Government, it means a lot for small consumers,” commented Amit Sharma, a grocery store owner from Jagdalpur. He said that the commercial power tariff in small towns must also be brought down to bring succour to small traders having very small businesses.
“Nobody understands how low electricity duty gets translated into the real power tariff consumers pay finally. However, reduction in cost per unit of power consumed in any case helps to pay less which is welcome,” said MK Sinha, an engineer posted
in Jagdalpur. “No consumer can be unhappy with such a decision, whatever be the political mindset. As long as it suits the budget of a family, it is always welcome commented,” Ritu Agrawal, a house wife in Ambikapur, said. “Most consumers do not even look at the bill to find out how many units have been consumed. They just look at the grand total,” she said.