BJP seeks audit of power infrastructure

Chandigarh, June 22

While filing an objection against the proposed power tariff hike with the Secretary, Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), city BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra today sought an audit of the infrastructure of the UT Electricity Department.

“Proposing an exorbitant hike in the tariff by the department is not only an effort to cover up its revenue losses but also to compensate the immediate cost of replacement of its old and outdated transformers,” reads the petition.

Malhotra has requested the JERC for an audit of the department’s infrastructure before approving the required tariff hike, so that there are no repeated increases on this score in the coming years.

It has also been highlighted that the ratio of increase in energy charges and fixed charges is totally irrational and is heavily loaded against the domestic consumers, which constitute 75% of the total consumers and have meagre resources. Such hikes would only affect their domestic budget with no scope of increase in their future income. Malhotra also raised the issues unscheduled power cuts and low voltage and others. In a statement, BJP’s media coordinator Sanjeev Rana said, “Before proposing a hike in the electricity rates, the Power Department should provide required basic facilities. In colonies and villages, open wires are passing through terraces and balconies of houses, which pose a danger to all.”