GUWAHATI, July 1 � Reacting strongly to the power tariff hike in the State, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Assam Pradesh today slammed Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi for the irregular and poor quality of power supply and demanded withdrawal of the decision.
The party said that the department should first ensure regular and quality power supply before taking any decision to hike power tariff.
On the other hand, consultant engineer JN Khataniar while opposing the hike, said that the current enhancement of power tariff by 36 paise per unit as approved by the AERC in favour of the APDCL for increase in fuel price without proper scrutiny and hearing from the public as consumers of electricity, cannot be accepted as a genuine decision and that it seemed to have motivated interest.
�In case of the present enhancement of electricity tariff by 36 paise per unit with effect from July 1, 2014, no public hearing had been initiated with wide publicity through the local newspapers for submission of opinions/suggestions etc., from the public/consumers,� Khataniar pointed out.
It needs to be mentioned that as per norms, for any enhancement in electricity tariff, the APDCL has to approach with all documents, the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC). After necessary scrutiny, the AERC has to notify the enhanced tariff after hearing from the public/consumers, as per the prevailing rules and regulations under the Electricity Act 2003.
