Punjab State Power Corporation (PSPCL) employees on Thursday alleged that the powercom has failed to disburse the monthly salary for January and instead has paid only ₹30,000 to employees and ₹20,000 to the pensioners.
Only portion of salaries disbursed, PSPCL blames it on technical glitch
The employees held a protest rally at the main gate of PSPCL head office at Patiala.
Protesting employees alleged that the Punjab government has failed to clear the subsidy bills of ₹5,400 crore apart from withholding pending bills to the tune of ₹3,100 crore, which has led to the deteriorating financial health of the state power corporation.
PSEB Engineers Association president Jasvir Singh Dhiman said that this was unprecedented in the history of PSPCL that the power corporation was unable to pay the salaries and pensions of employees.
“Punjab government was one of the biggest defaulters of PSPCL,” he said.
Association general secretary Ajay Pal Singh Atwal said that the association had been continuously raising concerns regarding the increasing share of subsidies in the revenues of PSPCL. “Almost 45% of PSPCL revenue is dependent on timely payments of subsidy bills by the Punjab government. “PSPCL has to buy expensive power from the market at ₹10 per unit during peak hours, which has further deteriorated the financial position,” said Atwal.
PSPCL director finance blamed the non-payment of full salary on a technical glitch.
“There was a technical issue from the bank’s end. The remaining salary will be disbursed tomorrow,” said Surinder Beri, director finance, PSPCL.