Against the backdrop of the Congress party’s promise of free electricity through the Gruha Jyoti Scheme, the consumers in Karnataka were facing a wide disparity in the electricity tariff. While much of it was attributed to Congress’s promise, the reality of the matter is not known to many. The party and the authorities have also been unclear on their stance as to why this happening.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Full Story
Primarily, what has to be understood is the price rise in the bills is not due to the party’s promise but rather due to the price hike done in the previous Govt (BJP) upon the recommendations of the KPTCL and DISCOMS through the KERC. The hike which was supposed to happen before the elections was paused due to the elections as the model code of conduct came into the picture. Now after the election process has been completed, the hike has hit the customers like a train wreck as they have no clue about what is going on. The hike is the arrears of the term where the hike was paused. Some consumers witnessed a dip in the bill amount and this was just the arrears that came as a bill but what they need to know is that the following bill will showcase the full amount to them as well.
Complications to solutions
It also came to light when enquired by the current Minister of Power, KJ George that the issue at hand is more complicated than it seems, this was brought to his notice by the Govt officials to the minister. KJ George, according to the sources has taken it upon himself to ensure the discrepancies are resolved. Primarily, the sudden hike in the price has hit the small and micro enterprises that did not see this coming.
It must be noted that the previous Govt had taken away the 50 paisa subsidy that was given to the small and micro enterprises that the Govt has continued. For heavy consumers who use high-tension power, the price has been reduced to 5 rs from 6 rs. This facility is also available to those who use electricity above 50KW in a month.
The current Govt has also reduced the per-unit cost for EV charging stations across the state.
The Adani Angle
Adani Power Plant located in Udupi supplies power to the state but many reports suggest that the power cost has gone up due to Adani taking over the same in the state of Karnataka as was seen in states like Gujarat and UTs like Delhi. The Congress Govt has said that the cost would be considerably lesser if the supplier would be different or there was an alternative available.
