BHUBANESWAR: Even as the hefty increase of 50 paise per unit of electricity in retail supply tariff has become unbearable for consumers during Covid-19 pandemic, the State government’s silence on the matter is baffling.
Launching a scathing attack on the government for backtracking from its assurance of filing a review petition with the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for reconsideration of its tariff orders for retail consumers, State BJP general secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar said the BJD government is more concerned for private companies than the consumers of the State.
“Energy Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra assured the Odisha Assembly on March 31 that the State government will move OERC for reconsideration of the enhanced tariff, which was made effective from April 4. It has been nearly three months but the government is silent. The Minister should clarify what is holding the government back,” said Samantsinghar.
What is annoying is that the excessive power tariff was imposed when everyone is reeling under financial stress due to the pandemic and 70 per cent of the population of the State depends on agriculture with low income. “The objective of privatisation was to ensure supply of quality power with an affordable rate. The tariff was kept low till the discoms were managed by the government.
Shortly after the discoms were handed over to Tata Power, the tariff shot up despite the fact that Odisha is a generating State with surplus power,” she said. Though there is no load shedding, unscheduled power cuts in the Twin City of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have become new normal, she remarked.
Accusing the government of being hand in glove with the Tata Power, president of Odisha Bidyut Upabhokta Mahasangha Ramesh Chandra Satapathy said OERC being a quasi judicial body has miserably failed in its duty.
“What is baffling is that the government being a major stakeholder is not objecting to the tariff proposals submitted by Tata Power. With the OERC fixing June 29 as the date for hearing the annual business plans and Capex plans of Tata Power, this is the right time for the government to move the Commission seeking a downward revision of retail supply tariff,” he said.