UT residents, parties contest proposed hike in power tariff

Residents and various parties have opposed the proposed hike in power tariff during a public hearing conducted by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) at the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, here today.

Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL) recently submitted a petition to the JERC for determination of aggregate revenue requirement and tariff for the financial years from 2025-26 to 2029-30. The firm stated that the projected revenue from the sale of power at the existing tariff is not sufficient to meet the costs estimated for efficient management of the electricity distribution operations leading to a cumulative revenue gap of Rs 982 crore (excluding carrying cost) over five years. It requested the commission to approve a suitable tariff to ensure the recovery of proposed/estimated costs for the control period.

Meanwhile, members of various organisations stated that the power tariff was recently increased and if hiked again, it would be a double whammy for the consumers.

Indian Citizens’ Forum (ICF) president SK Nayar and secretary Narinder Sharma submitted that the CPDL took over power distribution and retail supply on February 1. The UT has retained transmission and the state load despatch centre, hence separate tariff for transmission should also be got approved from the commission. As such the transmission losses should not be taken up while approving the tariff as per the instant petition, they stated.

Vijaypal Singh, city AAP president, and other leaders demanded the immediate rollback of the tariff hike proposal, an independent audit of CPDL’s finances, public performance review and provision of at least 200 free units for domestic consumers.

Chandigarh Beopar Mandal also opposed the proposal. Its president Sanjiv Chadha said that the association had submitted a detailed representation in which the proposal was strongly opposed.

Hitesh Puri, chairman, CRAWFED, said the federation opposed the proposed increase in electricity usage and fixed charges, stating that the fixed charges had risen by 500% over the past 20 years. The federation said there was need to improve the power company’s operations and prevent unannounced power cuts.

Chandigarh Congress president HS Lucky said the proposed hike was unjustified, anti-people and an attempt by the BJP-led Administration to burden the residents, small businesses and shopkeepers, who are already reeling under rising inflation.

Chandigarh