At a public hearing in Chennai on Monday, a cross-section of domestic and industrial consumers urged the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) to reject Tangedco’s tariff hike proposal. Some of them also called for fixing responsibility for the huge losses suffered by the State power utility, alleging corruption and mismanagement.
The public hearing, chaired by M. Chandrasekar, Chairman of TNERC, and K. Venkatesan, member of the Commission, went on for over nine hours, with industry representatives constituting a majority of the participants.
May 17 Movement coordinator Thirumurugan Gandhi, who participated in the hearing, pointed out that 20 years ago, Tangedco was making profit. “Even 10 years ago, the loss was ₹45,000 crore. Now, it has increased three-fold. Who is responsible for the losses? Is it due to mismanagement and the power purchases? Why do you want to punish the consumer for management inefficiencies,” he asked.
Others questioned the power procurement policies and alleged corruption and mismanagement in Tangedco.
V. Rama Rao, secretary, People’s Awareness Association, Nanganallur, said the proposed tariff of ₹11 per unit for those consuming above 1,000 units was extremely high. He pointed out that people were suffering from high inflation, and sought a two-year moratorium on tariff hikes.
V. Purushothaman, a consumer, objected to the proposal to introduce separate categories for common lighting, water supply, lifts, sewage treatment plants and RO plants at ₹8 per unit with fixed charges of ₹100 per unit (kilowatt).
Others objected to the proposal to provide only one service connection to a house, residence or premises. Under the proposal, an additional connection would be permitted only if it is rented or leased out to a different family occupying a separate portion of the premises.
Vasudevan Srinivasan, vice-president, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association, objected to the steep increase in fixed charges for LT and HT connections and peak hour charges. He pointed out that an LT consumer having 112 KW and consuming 40,000 units would have to pay ₹28 lakh more per annum.
Representatives of MSMEs said they had suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in raw material prices, and were recovering only now. They said many of them would have to shut down their businesses or move to other States if the proposed tariff hike came through.
P. Muthusamy, former director (engineering), TNERC, pointed out that TANTRANSCO had not reconciled balances with Tangedco, which was a very serious issue, and the auditors of TANTRANSCO had made adverse remarks. He urged TNERC to go by third party-verified technical and financial data parameters for determining the tariff.
Ann Josey, Prayas (Energy Group), said that in future, tariff hikes should be linked not only to inflation but also efficiency of operations.
Responding to the questions raised, Tangedco Director (Finance) K. Sundaravadhanam pointed out that there was a gap between the average cost of supply and the average cost of realisation, and expenditure had increased as the cost of inputs had gone up. With consumption increasing every year, the gap had widened, resulting in losses, he said. Besides, while industries can claim input tax credit on GST, Tangedco did not have such options.
On the criticism that the public hearing was held only in three locations, TNERC Chairman Chandrasekar said all procedures were followed, and an option was given for consumers to respond through mail. He said most of the comments were repetitive and reflected wider views, and the Commission would analyse them and take a decision.
