Amid Siddaramaiah-led Congress Government’s free electricity promise to the people of Karnataka, electricity prices in the State have been hiked by Rs 2.89 per unit in June.
The citizens will have to pay an extra amount of Rs 2.89 per unit in June if they fall in more than 200 units slab.
It is to be noted that, the Congress party promised 200 units of free electricity every month to people in Karnataka amid the assembly elections last month.
According to reports, this extra cost is the fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) and includes arrears from April.
FPPCA for this January could not be implemented in March because of billing issues and scarcity of time.
This same FPPCA of Rs 1.49 per unit will be levied from June.
Additionally, there was 70 Paisa + 70 Paisa hike from April and June due to which total price hike is Rs 2.89 per unit.
Moreover, the significant rise in the monthly electricity bills issued by Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) across Karnataka on June 5 left thousands of citizens in utter shock.
The fixed charges saw a sharp increase – ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 75 – depending on the consumption load, in the power bills generated by the Escoms for June.
Even as many slammed the Escoms, senior officials at Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) told media that the bills were generated as per the tariff order issued by Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC).
“The KERC had on May 13 ordered a tariff hike of 70 paise with retrospective effect from April 1, 2023. Similarly, a few days ago, the KERC revised the tariff by adding fuel and power purchase cost adjustments. As KERC ordered us to collect the pending dues for April too along with that of May, the bill issued in June appears to be inflated.
They will become normal from next month onwards,” explained a Bescom senior engineer.
Locals took to social media and slam the State Government for the hike in bills.
While many consumers acknowledged a considerable hike in their monthly bills, a few of them compared their June electricity bill with that of May to show the extent of spike.
“While the fixed charge was Rs 125 during the previous month, Bescom has increased it to Rs 200 this month. How can they increase the charges unilaterally by Rs 75 in just one month? Owing to this, my overall bill has shot up by Rs 100,” said a citizen.
Notably, the opposition BJP has staged protest against Congress Government over the hike in electricity price.
“The Congress party had promised that they would provide 200 units of power for free under the ‘Griha Jyoti’ scheme. However, after assuming power, the government has imposed several conditions for this,” said Uday Kumar Shetty Mangaluru Vibhag Prabhari and former chairman of Mysore Electrical Industries Ltd.
Expressing disappointment, Uday Kumar Shetty further stated that not only did the Government fail to fulfil its promise, but it also increased the power tariff. “Their true colours have been revealed within a month of coming to power. This will adversely impact those families which do not come under the ‘Griha Jyoti’ scheme, as well as those beneficiaries of ‘Griha Jyoti’ who consume additional units of power,” Shetty was quoted.
