Brig KG Behl (retd)

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 10

The Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) should not approve the proposed hike in power tariff for domestic and commercial consumers for 2016-17 in the state, stated Brig KG Behl (retd), president of the All India Consumers Council, Uttarakhand, in a press note issued here today. He said Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) should chalk out effective plans to strengthen the electricity distribution system.Brig Behl said the present domestic tariff was already too high. Consumers were paying Rs 3.80 per unit after consuming 200 units in a billing cycle.“When the consumption of electricity goes beyond 400 units, the rate charged from domestic consumers is Rs 4 per unit, which is quite high considering that it is for domestic purposes,” he said.Brig Behl added domestic consumers were thus being charged high for their normal consumption which should not be more than Rs 3 per unit. He lamented that domestic consumers pay Rs 120 per month as a fixed charge.He said since electricity was generated in the state, domestic consumers should be charged at the rates at which it was produced and not at the rates at which electricity was being procured from other sources for industrial purposes.