Common demand: Don’t burden people with true-up charges
VIJAYAWADA: Many of the stakeholders, public and associations, who participated in the public hearing held by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) on distribution business true-up claims made by the distribution companies (Discoms), raised several objections.
From praying that the petitions be dismissed without burdening the public to demanding that the state government bears the true-up charges to requesting the commission to hold the Discoms responsible for not being able to manage the finances, about 90 participants urged the commission to not pass on the true-up charges onto the consumers.
After uproar from the public and political parties and a petition in the High Court, the APERC, which recalled its earlier order permitting Discoms to recover Rs 3,669 crore from consumers, began a public hearing on Tuesday. Views and objections were invited pertaining to petitions by APSPDCL and APEPDCL, which claimed Rs 5,889 crore and Rs 1,335.51 crore respectively for the third control period of 2014-15 to 2018-19.
Several participants objected to the Discoms filing petitions much after the control period ended. They submitted that as per the norms the petitions were to be submitted along with the aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) and annual tariff proposal the following year of the period in question. “As per the Electricity Act, the Discoms are supposed to finalise the power tariffs every year with respect to ARR, but this has not happened. Instead they are proposing to collect true-up charges retrospectively from 2014-2019. Collecting true-up charges retrospectively is unfair and it is a huge burden to consumers,” one objector said.
Ch Babu Rao from CPI (M) urged the commission to dismiss the petitions, which were a result of improper management by the Discoms. He questioned why consumers would pay for the decisions taken by the power companies that led to cost escalation. He suggested that the concept of true-up charges be done away with.
Industry representatives too opposed the petitions. They found fault with retrospectively collecting charges from consumers. “In case the APERC allows the Discoms to recover the true-up charges amounting to Rs 3,669 crore to be collected during this fiscal year, it is going to be a big blow to industries in the state. Out of the Rs 3,669 crore, it is estimated that around 60 per cent is expected to be collected from business establishments of which more than 95 per cent are in MSME category,” explained Potluri Bhaskara Rao from Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation. Other industry bodies such as Textile Mills Association, Indian Tobacco Association, AP Hotels Association and others too submitted their views.
Who will pay true-up charge if property is sold?
When one of the participants, who had sold off his building prior to the imposition of true-up charges, wanted to know who has to bear the additional charges, APERC chairperson Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy clarified that the party, which is consuming the power now, would have to pay the charges. Several other participants also raised the question of who would bear the burden in case of change in residence/ownership. The commission said it would consider the suggestions and take a decision accordingly.