City businessmen staged a protest outside the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) office at Ferozepur Road on Tuesday over heavy penalties imposed on several businessmen in the last one year for using more load in their factories than the sanctioned load.
Five businessmen sat raised slogans against the corporation officials and demanded that the penalties be rolled back. They said that many of them have received power bills to the tune of ₹5 to 15 lakh for the entire year.
They added that they are already facing losses due to Covid-19 pandemic and even the PSPCL chairman has refused to speak to them.
Five people will sit on the protest outside the PCPCL office everyday and if the authorities will do not roll back the penalties by Friday (June 18), then all the members will sit on protest outside the PCPCL office in Patiala, they added.
Jaswinder Thakrul, president of the Janta Nagar Small Scale Manufacturers Association, said, “We were forced to sit in protest after the chairman PSPCL refused to talk to us. For the last 15 months, the industry is facing a crisis due to the pandemic and now, the PSPCL has imposed penalties worth lakhs on a large number of businessmen. If the decision is not reversed, then we will gherao the PSPCL office in Patiala.”
DS Chawla president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturing Association (UCPMA), said, “We have been running our factories for 24 hours to support the state government, provide employment and generate revenue. The PSPCL has imposed penalty on many businessmen for using more load than the sanctioned load of the entire year. Many of them have been framed for unauthorised use of electricity (UUE) cases, which is not right. Instead of charging penalty for the duration for which they have used power, the authorities imposed the charges for 12 months, which is not justified.”
{{/usCountry}}DS Chawla president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturing Association (UCPMA), said, “We have been running our factories for 24 hours to support the state government, provide employment and generate revenue. The PSPCL has imposed penalty on many businessmen for using more load than the sanctioned load of the entire year. Many of them have been framed for unauthorised use of electricity (UUE) cases, which is not right. Instead of charging penalty for the duration for which they have used power, the authorities imposed the charges for 12 months, which is not justified.”
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