A crescendo of demonstrations about excessive electricity bills has emerged after the base power tariff was increased on July 1. Household budgets were already extremely tight because the costs of nearly all other goods used in the home were likewise at record highs.
During a month when back-to-school expenses were also being juggled by parents of school-age children, the higher electricity charges arrived, further aggravating their plight. Even worse, it doesn’t appear like there will be any relief very soon.
The national power regulator has received a petition from power distribution companies asking for reimbursement for increased fuel expenses and quarterly tariff adjustment fees for electricity used in previous months, according to recent reports. Under these two headings, customers will be taxed a combined total of around Rs200 billion. In the following months, clients’ bills will begin to include these charges if they are approved. Not only that. Given the increasing devaluation of the rupee, it is anticipated that energy generation costs will increase over the next several months, necessitating numerous similar “adjustments” that will be added to customers’ electricity bills in the near future.
There is already a great deal of discontent among the populace about the enormous disparity between the weighted average cost of generating one unit of power and what customers ultimately pay for it after additional fees and taxes, as they struggle to adjust to the abrupt spike in the cost of electricity. Authorities now seem to be left with no choice but to directly address the public’s concerns about this disparity, which is the result of significant capacity payments that previous administrations guaranteed to energy generation companies, line losses brought on by an extremely inefficient energy distribution infrastructure, widespread electricity theft, and a slew of taxes that are added to the bill for electricity charges.
Any defective contracts that unfairly increase the financial burden for end users must now be avoided by the government. The government must also rationalise its taxation. It can start by examining the income tax that is withheld from electricity bills that are more than Rs25,000. Anyone who rents a home from a non-filer, even if they themselves are a filer, will be unfairly burdened by the condition.
The government must begin operations in a warlike manner. Power distribution and transmission companies should be held accountable for persistently large line losses; consumers cannot keep footing the bill for their carelessness.
The state has also been complicit in electricity theft for far too long. Why it expects law-abiding citizens to cover the costs of thieves defies comprehension. The capacity issue
