Electricity consumers feel cheated

Kuldip Bhatia 

Ludhiana, August 18

It is official now that the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is purchasing cheap power and selling it at higher rates to consumers. Going by the average cost of electricity to all categories of consumers (except for agriculture, where free power is supplied), the power utility is pocketing around 100 per cent profit on the sale of electricity, which is beyond comprehension by any standards. 

Information provided by the PSPCL to Council of RTI Activists president Rohit Sabharwal under the Right to Information Act reveals that during the financial year 2018-19, the total power purchase bill of the PSPCL as approved by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission was Rs 19,374.35 crore, while for the FY 2019-20, the projected power purchase bill stands at Rs 20,834.98 crore. Accordingly, the average power purchase cost per unit works out to Rs 4.13 and Rs 4.50, respectively, for the last two financial years.

However, the effective cost of electricity to domestic, non-residential, and industrial consumers, including consumption, and fixed charges for the current financial year is anything from Rs 7.5 to Rs 10 per unit. Even the industrial units, promised cheap power supply at Rs 5 per unit by the incumbent Congress government get power supply at around Rs 8.5 to Rs 9 per unit, claim the industry leaders.

Castigating the PSPCL management, president,  Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association (FOPSIA) Badish K Jindal said electricity was an essential item, but rather than operating as a service sector, the PSPCL had made it a business and source of profit. 

“Extremely high rate of taxes and other surcharges, along with electricity duty add to its cost and on the top of it, government is collecting cross subsidy, which makes the consumers of all other categories pay up the cost of free power supply to farmers,” said Jindal, while charging the power utility with gross financial mismanagement, which, over the period, had landed the PSPCL in a big financial mess.

State general secretary of the Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat Dr SB Pandhi said it was most unfortunate that the power utility had made a necessity like electricity a profit-making business. “Power is supplied to domestic and non-residential (commercial) consumers at around Rs 7.50 per unit. Consumers are also made to shell out extra money by way of fixed charges, electricity duty, municipal tax, cow cess and infrastructure development tax, which need to be cut down to make power cheaper for consumers,” he said.

It is unfortunate that the power utility has made a necessity like electricity a profit-making business. Power is supplied to domestic and non-residential (commercial) consumers at around Rs 7.50 per unit. Consumers are also made to shell out extra money by way of fixed charges, electricity duty, municipal tax, cow cess and infrastructure development tax, which need to be cut down to make power cheaper for consumers. Dr SB Pandhi, State general secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat 

Electricity is an essential item, but rather than operating as a service sector, the PSPCL has made it a business and source of profit. Extremely high rate of taxes and other surcharges, along with electricity duty add to its cost and on the top of it, government is collecting cross subsidy, which makes the consumers of all other categories pay up the cost of free power supplied to farmers. Badish K Jindal, president, FOPSIA