Trouble has increased for electricity consumers in Uttar Pradesh. Now a big controversy has arisen over the decision of the Power Corporation to increase the electricity load of about 47 lakh electricity consumers of the state. There was already opposition to this action, but now the Consumer Council has raised questions on the arguments of the Power Corporation. The Consumer Council says that the department has taken this decision arbitrarily, ignoring the rules and regulations.
Smart meter vs old meter problem
Consumer Council President Awadhesh Kumar Verma has made a big revelation in this matter. He said that out of the 47 lakh consumers whose load has been increased, about 50 percent are those consumers who still have old ‘non-smart’ meters installed in their homes. The Council argues that the amendments made by the Central Government in Section 5-A and 5-B of the Consumer Rights Rule-2020 are applicable only to ‘smart meter’ consumers. In such a situation, how can the rule of increasing load without any prior notice be implemented on consumers with old meters?
Ignoring the Distribution Code-2005
Out of total 3.73 crore electricity consumers in the state, only 90 lakh houses have smart meters installed. ‘Electricity Distribution Code-2005’ still applies to the remaining consumers. According to this code, it is mandatory to give notice to any consumer at least one month before increasing his load. The council alleges that the Power Corporation neither gave any notice nor followed the rules.
Violation of rules and penalty
The Council also says that the Power Corporation has not only broken the rules but also did not take care of the time. According to the rules, if the load is to be increased in a financial year, it should have been implemented in the month of April only. But the department took this action in July, for which it was necessary to take approval from the Regulatory Commission, which was not taken. Not only this, the Government of India has already clarified in the Lok Sabha that no penalty will be imposed on smart meter consumers in the name of ‘Maximum Electricity Demand’, yet in UP, fine was imposed on consumers and the load was also increased. Now the council has demanded a technical and legal review of this entire episode.
Employees will gather in Delhi against electricity privatization
Meanwhile, a big news has come to light amidst the ongoing disputes in the power sector. Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti has announced that a major national conference will be held on July 29 at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi. This will include the United Kisan Morcha and ten central trade unions. In this conference, a strategy for a nationwide movement against electricity privatization, labor codes and anti-farmer policies will be prepared.
Comments are closed.