It has been reported that after Mahavitaran petition for increasing electricity tariff Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) is conducting hearings at different places in the state.During the day-long hearing on today, MERC will hear various electricity organisations and consumer forums, who will be opposing the hike.
Mahavitran had submitted its petition for the financial year 2020-21 to 2024-25 to MERC on November 26 last year. The petition claims that Mahavitran has a revenue deficit of 60,313 crores and has proposed increasing electricity tariff for recovering it. It has proposed to increase in fixed charges and tariff for consumers in various categories.
As per information, Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti (VRAS) staged massive agitation at about a hundred places in Vidarbha region, demanding a separate Vidarbha state and also reduction of electricity rates by half. In Nagpur city, VRAS staged a chakka jam at the central bus station in Ganeshpeth. The agitation was led by VRAS chief convenor Hussain and hundreds of leaders and activists were present. They demanded to make domestic electricity free till 200 units in Maharashtra.
MSEDCL has further proposed 20 per cent tariff hike and the agitators said that they will not tolerate this unjustifiable hike. People from Vidarbha should be given free domestic electricity till 200 units and after that charge 50 per cent for the units. They also demanded a separate Vidarbha state immediately. With this demand VRAS will be staging a rail blockade on February 25 and Vidarbha bandh on May 1.Mahavitran has hiked tariff four times in two years and this was the fifth time. This hike will be 50 percent in the last five years. Those using zero to 100 unit find it costly while commercial consumers, using more units will find it beneficial. The lowest tariff is in Chhattisgarh and the highest is in Maharashtra.
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