Consumers oppose any hike in power tariff

'Hescom officials do not respond to complaints and do not meet customers' regularly'

The proposal by the Hubli Electricity Supply Company (Hescom) to hike power tariff by 66 paise per unit has attracted strong opposition from power consumers. At a meeting convened by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) here, the citizens and representatives of various organisations vociferously opposed the proposal to hike the tariff and said that the authorities should focus their attention on improving the quality of service and stop pilferage to overcome the financial crisis.

The consumers argued that the Hescom had no justification whatsoever for increasing the tariff as it had miserably failed to comply with the directions of the KERC and was functioning inefficiently, as a result of which the genuine power consumers were forced to pay more.

In his submission, president of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vasant Ladwa said, the petition by Hescom failed to show valid grounds for the tariff hike. He pointed out that Hescom had to bear the burden of Rs 103 crore in the form of interest for its lapse in paying for the electricity purchased in time.

He said, the Hescom had spent Rs 31.88 crore for other expenses without approval from the KERC. The distribution loss has been at 19.88 per cent while the rules stipulate that it should not exceed 18 per cent, he added.

Instead of passing the burden on to the poor consumers, the Hescom should explore other possible means, he asserted. R K Rangrej representing the Gadag Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, the north Karnataka region was reeling under drought and under the circumstances, the KERC should outright reject the proposal to hike the power tariff.

He said, the company had earned a profit in the last two years and was expecting a profit this year too. When such is the situation, there is no need to hike the power tariff, he argued. Rangrej also pointed out that there has been misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 4.06 crore in Indi sub-division of Bijapur district and no action was being taken to recover the money from the officers responsible for it.

Arvind Pai from Kumta and others alleged that the Hescom officials were not responding to their complaints and were not conducting customer meet regularly.

G G Hegde Kadekodi of Uttara Kannada district wanted to know the lifespan of the electricity poles and wire as they tend to fall down every two-three months after being installed. Basavaraj Javali of Belgaum complained about the officials resorting to loadshedding in industrial area in Macche without prior notice, resulting in great inconvenience and financial loss.

KERC chairman M R Srinivas Murthy expressed his displeasure at the functioning of Hescom and directed the officials to respond to the problems of the customers and address emergent problems. He took the officials to task, directing them to regularly hold monthly meetings in every district under Hescom.

He instructed Hescom MD Rajendra Cholan to monitor the meetings and see that consumers’ problems were dealt with at the earliest.