Trustees of some city schools have demanded the reallocation of LT I category (residential or non-commercial) of electricity connection for educational institutions. The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had issued an order a month ago to include all educational institutions, hospitals and dispensaries in the LT II category — as these were ‘non-residential’ — along with malls and cinema theatres (commercial establishments), following which the electricity bills of many schools had nearly doubled.

Around 50 representatives of various schools met on Friday and drafted a memorandum to the MERC. “As all schools have complied with the MERC order and paid the bills with increased tariffs for July, we have asked the regulator to either refund the excess amount or to adjust the amount in the next billing cycle. We run educational institutions and are not involved in any profit-making business and hence cannot afford these higher tariffs,” said A Tambe, secretary, Maha Mumbai Shikshan Sangathna, and trustee, Chembur Education Society.

“If our demands are not met, we may even refuse to give our premises for the elections.”

The trustees also took exception to MERC’s decision last month to give tariff concessions to malls, multiplexes and construction sites. The regulator had decided to reduce the tariff to Rs 7.15 per unit from the existing Rs 7.39 per unit.