COIMBATORE: Over 100 members of the Federation of Coimbatore Industries Association (FOCIA) arrived at the TANGEDCO, Coimbatore on Tuesday and submitted a petition to chief engineer demanding change in the connection category and not to impose fines if they exceed the power factor. The members were led by FOCIA coordinators J James, Natarajan, and Raveendran.
In the petition, the association stated that thousands of SMEs pay bills ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. Last month several units were imposed 150 per cent penalty for not maintaining the power factor. “We request you to immediately cancel this penalty and refund the amount to the units. Officials should conduct awareness camps for people who have electricity connection below 18 KW and guide them to avoid penalty,” it said.
Further, the association stated that more than 50,000 units use less than 12 kilowatts. Last year, the government issued an order to change such connections from 3B tariff to 3A1 category , but till today it has not been implemented in our district. We request officials to change the tariff to 3A1 category, the association added.