UP to witness mini Assembly poll after Lok Sabha elections
Uttar Pradesh is set for a mini assembly election after the Lok Sabha polls are over as around 15 legislators are contesting the parliamentary elections.
Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad has denounced the new rules announced by the Central government for power consumers on Friday.
The Parishad on Saturday asserted that the consumer organisations across the country will oppose the new rules from a single platform and will not allow this law to be implemented. “It will be a big fraud on the domestic consumers,” said Parishad’s president Awadhesh Kumar Verma.
As per the new law, electricity can be 10 to 20 per cent cheaper during the day and 10 to 20 per cent more expensive at night. He said, “The Centre should know that domestic consumers consume just 30 per cent of their total consumption during the day and a maximum of 70 per cent at night.”
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Going by the rule, he said the monthly bill of the consumer will increase as they will have to pay Rs 5 extra for excess consumption in the night by getting a benefit of just Rs 2 in the day time.
Verma also spoke to the Central Energy Secretary, Alok Kumar, and opposed the law, saying domestic electricity consumers will be devastated if it is implemented and that the Central government should reconsider the “draconian law”.
“This law is going to destroy the domestic consumers of the country,” he warned.
The Central government introduced two changes in the electricity tariff system through amendment in the Electricity Consumer Rights Rules 2020, in which the introduction of TOD means day and time tariff and rationalization of smart metering provision.
Now, it has been decided that from April 1, 2025, all common consumer day and night electricity rates will probably be different.
The Centre is not aware that the Electricity Regulatory Commission in Uttar Pradesh has already implemented the TOD day and time tariff for small and medium power, electric vehicles, heavy industry, but had refused to implement it for domestic consumers.
Verma said that there are about 3.30 crore power consumers in Uttar Pradesh, out of which about 2.85 crore are domestic. “These domestic consumers will be vastly affected with this new rule,” he added.
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