MLAs criticise REL tariff hike
Members of the state legislature cutting across party lines on Wednesday joined ranks to voice their protest against Reliance Energy’s power tariff hike in Mumbai.
By TNN |
NAGPUR: Members of the state legislature cutting across party lines on Wednesday joined ranks to voice their protest against Reliance Energy’s power tariff hike in Mumbai.
Raising the issue in the Question Hour, Gopal Shetty (BJP), Ganpatrao Deshmukh (PWP), Ashok Jadhav (Congress) Sachin Aher (NCP) and others were highly critical of REL for what they called unjust and unfair tariff hike.
“The company has revised its tariff upwards by around 31% across the board which is unacceptable,” they chorused. They wanted to know why the company has been allowed to go for such a move in the first place whereas none of the other power utilities have done so.
Replying to arguments, Dilip Valse Patil, the state energy minister, tried to mollify the agitated members. The hike, he said, has been a mere 24% and not 31%, as alleged by the members. According to the minister, per unit hike has been 97 paise across the board.
He came to the company’s defence saying the move had been necessitated by revised fuel charges, in response to which many members asked why the same had not affected other players such as Tata Power, BSES and MSEB. Mr Patil brushed aside members’ suggestion to intervene in the matter. “There is a quasi judicial authority in the form of MERC to deal with such issues,” he said.
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The state has no role to play in it,” he contended. This, however, didn’t satisfy the legislators, who kept insisting that the state considering the larger public cause can step in and direct the power company to scale the tariff down. Some of the members later threatened to launch an agitation against REL.Download
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