Hundreds protest against power tariff hike

NEW DELHI: Upset over the recent power tariff hike of 22%, United Residents Joint Action (URJA) of Delhi, along with 350 resident welfare associations (RWAs), held a protest at Jantar Mantar on Saturday. People from all over the city gathered on the road and shouted slogans against Delhi government holding aloft placards with messages such as 'Bijli scam, coming soon, book your tickets' and 'Fight it out, once and for all', clearly reflecting the anger and frustration of the common man.
"The government has different policies for NDMC and discoms. The NDMC rates are subsidized and they are showing profits whereas the discoms' rates are high and still they still show losses despite getting electricity from the same source" said Preeti Singh, joint secretary, Vasant Kunj RWA.
Several people complained that they receive electricity bills that are too complicated to understand and consumers often have no idea what they are paying for. "I received a bill for Rs 4,000, and when I went through it, I couldn't understand why Rs 1,200 was listed under the 'other charges' head. When I asked a discom official to explain the bill to me, he refused and said I would have to pay the amount whether I understood the bill or not," said Bhram Singh, a resident of Dhakka Nagar.
URJA has put forward four demands before the government and discoms. While the government has agreed to a CAG audit, URJA has demanded that the audit be conducted before people are forced to pay the new tariff amount.
The agitators pointed out that the RWAs had registered more than 500 objections at a public hearing during the proposal stage but their suggestions and objections had been completely disregarded. "We want a committee to be floated that will review the objections," said Sanjay Kaul, chairman, URJA.
The RWAs also want the discoms to be brought into the ambit of the RTI Act. "If these discoms are using public land and they are functioning for the public and the government owns a 49 per cent stake, then they should come under RTI so that there will be transparency," added Kaul.
Other demands included that a PAC report asking for a CBI probe into the functioning of discoms should be reopened and RTI activists should be able to access the report. "If discoms are brought under RTI, people will be able to discover what the report contained and why we are asking for CAG auditing," said Kaul.
The RWAs have decided that all Delhi MLAs should be sent a letter asking them whose side they were on. "Will they support this protest against the hike or will they side with the government? If they are with the people, they will come out and stand with us," said Sanjay Talwar, a member of Mukherjee Nagar RWA.