BHUBANESWAR: Pressure is mounting on the State government to be a party to the public hearing by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on an application seeking review of the tariff orders passed by the Commission on March 26, 2021.
After a week-long agitation in the State against the power tariff hike for the current financial year, the BJP has submitted a memorandum to Governor Ganeshi Lal requesting appropriate direction to the State government to address the issue which is affecting 92 lakh consumers of the State.
The party has accused the State government of absolving its responsibility by not objecting to the high power tariff when the State is generating cheapest power. The party reminded the Governor about the promise made by the State government in the Assembly to seek a review of the tariff order.
It has been more than four months, there is no response from the State government despite repeated demands from Opposition parties. The party has further demanded a change in the slab and requested the Governor to direct the Commission to fix the charge for the first 100 units instead of the present 50 units.
Petitioner Anand Mohapatra has also requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to direct the Energy department to file an affidavit before OERC requesting reconsideration of the tariff order.