Public hearing on power tariff hike proposal today

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited proposal to increase the overall power tariff by 18 per cent will come up for discussion at a public hearing called by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) proposal to increase the overall power tariff by 18 per cent will come up for discussion at a public hearing called by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on Wednesday.

Vivek Velankar,coordinator of Sajag Grahak Manch,activists of India Against Corruption and senior citizens will give their feedback at the hearing before a final decision is taken on the issue.

Velankar said that he has collected 6,500 signatures against the proposed tariff hike.

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He said that MSEDCLs arrears are to the tune of Rs 14,226 crore,of which Rs1,948 crore arrears are to be recovered from as many as 8.39 lakh consumers across the state who have not paid bills since their connections were made operational. There should be no price hike till 60 per cent of the arrears are not recovered,he said.

This is the fourth time MSEDCL is proposing 100 per cent increase in fixed charges. For the past three years,MERC has not approved the proposal.

Increase in fixed charges by 100 per cent is unjust,said Velankar.

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