Electricity tariff has been increased in Tamil Nadu since last 10th. Due to the onslaught from all sides such as price hike, property tax hike, petrol-diesel price hike, interest reduction on deposits, cooking gas price hike, the life cycle of the people is mostly affected by the increased electricity bill. Not only the touch, but also the electricity tariff which has now been raised is a ‘shock’, people say.
It has been officially announced by the Electricity Board that there is no other option but to increase the electricity tariff after a gap of 8 years. Also, the overall financial loss of the Electricity Board has increased to Rs.1 lakh 13 thousand 266 crore as on 31-3-2021. Also, as on that date, the total outstanding loan to the Electricity Board is Rs.1 lakh 59 thousand 823 crore. For this, the annual interest has increased to Rs. 16 thousand 511 crores.
Apart from this, the electricity board has announced that power tariff revision is a mandatory pre-condition for getting funds under central government schemes. However, the general consensus is that this increase is high. While paying the monthly electricity bill, from Rs.55 to Rs.1,470 (thousand units of electricity users) have to pay more.
There are 2 crore 36 lakh electricity consumers in Tamil Nadu. Apart from 98 lakh people who get free electricity in their homes, everyone else will have to pay the new tariff according to this tariff hike. Apart from this, charges for new electricity connection, changing the location of meters, replacing old and burnt meters have also been increased. All these fees have been doubled.
Deposits for meters have also been hiked. Electricity charges have been hiked not only for homes but also for large and small industries. There is a situation where the status fee has to be paid twice. The amount of Rs.1,750 that small companies using 50 kilowatts of electricity have paid so far has now been reduced to Rs.3,750. Also, now for all the industries he has mentioned that ‘peak’ i.e. peak hours are morning and evening from 6 am to 10 pm and 25 percent extra charge has to be paid for the electricity used during those times.
Due to this, the workers are affected and the companies are affected a lot. K. Mariyappan, president of Tamil Nadu Small and Small Industries Association, says that this hike in electricity tariff will lead to the old situation at a time when we are slowly.. slowly.. recovering from the effects of Corona. Apart from this, this fee hike does not stop with this year. It has also been announced that there will be a 6 percent increase in fees every year from now on.
Now electricity bill is charged once every 2 months. DMK One thing that people expect is that the system of paying monthly electricity bill as promised in the election manifesto should come immediately. If this system comes into force, the pain of the current hike in fares will surely ease. People also believe that it will be a bearable pain.