Sanjay Nirupam defends 'agitation' to lower power bills

Defending his agitation to lower the power tariff in Maharashtra, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam today continued his diatrive against the private electricity providers and the state's electricity regulatory authority.
Terming the role of Maharashtra Electricity Regularity Commission (MERC) in fixing power tariff as "suspicious", he demanded the appointment of technically sound professionals in the Commission and not retired bureaucrats henceforth for the sake of transparency in the state's power sector.
"The MERC is not transparent and dancing to the tunes of private power companies to benefit them. The government should take cognisance and initiate immediate steps in this regard," he said.

Nirupam, who along with party's Lok Sabha member Priya Dutt had been "protesting" and demanding reduction of electricity bills for power consumers especially in Mumbai, reiterated that the government should cut power tariff as the present rates are very exorbitant.
"Mumbai consumers get power at the rate of Rs 9 per unit from Reliance Infrastructure. This is the highest tariff in the country," he said.
Nirupam had also written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan demanding a power tariff cut, reasoning that if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi could do so, why could it not be replicated in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Reacting to the Reliance Infrastructure's contention that the demand for revision in electricity tariff in Mumbai could only be considered by MERC, which is the regulatory commission, Nirupam said that its price fixing mechanism is "improper and unscientific".