Power to be dearer by 2 pc from Nov 1

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 22

The city residents will soon have to shell out more while paying their electricity bills as the Punjab Local Bodies Department is all set to impose an additional 2 per cent tariff in urban and rural areas from November 1.

The decision has been taken to provide an additional annual income of up to Rs 25 crore to the department. The city consumes electricity worth Rs 1,200 crore every year. However, local bodies, including municipal corporations, municipal councils and gram panchayats, will give a rebate of 1 per cent to those who will pay the remaining arrears of the house tax and property tax in time.

To encourage people to pay their arrears, the government has also waived the interest and penalty of those people who get their house tax arrears deposited within three months. Also, they will get an additional rebate of 10 per cent in the principal amount.

The Municipal Corporation has to recover arrears worth Rs 25 crore in house tax, out of which, over 50 per cent is the interest amount levied on the principal amount.

Speaking to The Tribune, industrialist Narinder Saggu said while the state government provided the much-needed relief to industrialists by announcing the power to be supplied at Rs 5 a unit to the industrialists, it has again put burden by making it dearer by 2 per cent.

“We are already reeling under the 5 per cent infrastructure cess, and cow cess levied in our power tariff and now this further increase of 2 per cent tax will hamper the growth of industry in the state,” said Saggu.

The city being a hub of sports industry majorly has small-scale industries that might also get affected by the move. Industrialists, meanwhile, have urged the state government to review its decision.