Pending power bills finally arrive, with a 20% tariff hike

The bills were delivered after almost four months as the system was being overhauled by the state-run Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam.

Many consumers in the city received a shock when their electricity bills that had been pending for almost four months finally arrived - with a 20% hike in tariff.

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The bills were delivered after a delay as the system was being overhauled by the state- run Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN).

Superintending engineer (DHBVN) said, “The rate was already increased in April, but as we could not charge the consumers, it will be collected in the months hereafter, as arrears.”

Though the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) had approved the power tariff hike with effect from April 1, the discom implemented it only from this month as it was held up with its online project — Restructured Accelerated Power.

The project R-APDRP is a revised version of the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme (APDRP), which was started in 2008.

The APDRP scheme was initiated in 2002-03 as Additional Central Assistance to states for reducing the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses in the power.

The sharp increase in power rates by the HERC has added to the woes of the public already burdened with the price hike of LPG and petroleum.

“Instead of hiking electricity rates, the government should focus on bringing more efficiency in the functioning of power transmission and distribution companies, because the inefficiency of these companies is a major cause for the latest hike,” Joginder Singh, RWA president of Sushant Lok 2 and 3 said.

He said they will soon be meeting DHBVN officials and a memorandum regarding the same will be submitted.

Official data suggests that the average electricity consumption per month in a middle-class household in Gurgaon is more than 500 units. According to the new plan, for a total consumption of 501 units and above, there will be a single tariff.

Consumers are irked as they are still paying bills for the summer months when the demand for electricity was higher.

“This hike is unfair to the residents of Gurgaon for the simple reason that we do not get sufficient power supply. During summer, we suffered six-hours outages alomost every day. Unless the discom improves the power infrastructure, the hike in tariff cannot be justified,” Ramesh Vasistha, a resident of Sector 15 (I), said.