Uniform power tariff faces discom hurdle

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government will have to walk a tightrope to implement its plan of having a uniform power tariff for Mumbai’s low-end residential users, with the state’s own power distribution company having expressed reservations.

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The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), whose operations in Mumbai are limited to areas such as Mulund, Kanjurmarg, and Bhandup, has informed the state that it cannot have two different sets of tariff for low-end domestic users - one for Mumbai and one for the rest of Maharashtra.

A senior MSEDCL official said, “If the state wants to implement a uniform power tariff it should take the MSEDCL’s tariff for domestic consumers as the base.”

There are four different electricity distribution companies operating in Mumbai - the MSEDCL in the eastern suburbs of Mulund, Bhandup and Kanjurmarg, the BEST undertaking in the island city, and private firms.