“Domestic electricity bills sent by UPCL from Feb need revision”

By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 30 Aug: Brig KG Behl (Retd), President, All India Consumers Council, and Sanyukta Nagrik Sangathan, Uttarakhand, has pointed out in a press release that, during the Covid-19 period, the UERC/UPCL increased the rates of electricity, which was opposed. The protest was especially regarding increase in fixed charges, which brought the domestic users using more than 500 units at par with commercial users, as it worked out to more than the increase of 4% that the authorities announced. All domestic users who use electronic gadgets use more than 500 units and their rates with new fixed charges work out to be much more and at par with commercial use. Some relief was proposed for commerce and industry, but domestic consumers were forgotten. As a result, heavy domestic bills have been sent which need to be reviewed, asserts Behl, claiming there is no relevance to increasing fixed charges, which have no bearing on the basis of which electricity rates are fixed.
This has been done instead of taking action regarding the statement issued by the Uttarakhand Government that relief would be provided to power consumers by deferring fixed charges on electricity for the three months, March to May. For the time being, consumers in the industrial and commercial category will be exempt from paying fixed or demand charges. Surprisingly there was no mention of increased fixed charges levied from I April, 2020, in domestic consumption, where the consumption is more than 500 units. This has lead to increase in rates substantially.
Behl has requested that the authorities examine the issue and revise the heavy bills sent from February to this date. The minister concerned is also requested to examine and intervene.