PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Electricity Minister A Namassivayam’s announcement on providing a subsidy in tariff to domestic consumers using up to 200 units has drawn criticisms from various political parties, who demanded the subsidy be extended to all consumers. They also demanded the removal of additional charges, such as fixed charges, regulatory surcharges, and taxes.
The subsidy offers a relief of 45 paise per unit for the first 100 units consumed and 40 paise per unit for consumption from 101 units to 200 units. The Electricity Department estimated the subsidy would cost the government an additional Rs 26 crore annually. Despite the subsidy, consumers would still face higher charges compared to the previous rate of Rs 3.25 per unit in the slab.
AIADMK state secretary and MLA A Anbalagan said out of the 4,07,000 domestic power connections in Puducherry, only 1,25,000 would benefit from the subsidy, leaving 2,82,000 households and commercial establishments without any relief. Calling it a "fraudulent act", he said the government, as a result of the power tariff hike, would earn around Rs 200 crore more, but has only provided a subsidy of around Rs 20 crore this year.
He criticised the electricity minister's comparison of rates with Tamil Nadu's, saying that the first 100 units were free in the neighbouring state.
Anbalagan accused the government of burdening Puducherry residents with indirect charges, including a 10% electricity surcharge and a fixed charge of Rs 35 per kilowatt for households and Rs 200 per kilowatt for commercial establishments. He alleged these charges were introduced to make the power sector more attractive for potential privatisation. He claimed these practices had led to a profit of Rs 160 crore for the sector and demanded the profit be redistributed to consumers.
Anbalagan demanded the formation of an expert committee under the lieutenant governor to investigate the power department's collection of indirect charges and to cancel unnecessary surcharges.
Claiming the subsidy was an impact of the agitation by the INDIA bloc parties, CPI state secretary A M Saleem said the subsidy was inadequate, arguing that even those in rented accommodation often use over 200 units. He called for subsidies for all slabs, highlighting the impact of increased tariffs on small business owners. Objecting to the comparison with TN's power tariff, Saleem asked why don't the Puducherry government follow Tamil Nadu's example in distributing essential food items through ration shops and selling liquor through TASMAC.