Cong's Randeep Surjewala, MLA Aditya stage protest against hiked power rates in Haryana

Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala and his son, MLA Aditya Surjewala, along with party workers staged a protest in Kaithal on Sunday against the rise in electricity rates by the BJP government in Haryana.

Launching a scathing attack on the Nayab Singh Saini government, Randeep Surjewala said that the government had asserted in the state budget that no fresh tax had been imposed, but later burdened people through the "backdoor".

The government shifted a financial burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the people of Haryana by hiking power rates from April 1, the Rajya Sabha MP said.

After addressing a public meeting in Kaithal, a foot march was taken out and a memorandum was submitted to the CM through the district deputy commissioner, demanding the withdrawal of the hiked power rates.

During the protest, Congress workers carried placards in their hands, some of which read, "Badaye gaye bijli k dham vapas lo".

Haryana power regulator HERC recently announced an electricity tariff order for 2025-26, in which the rates have been increased for domestic and industrial categories ranging from 20 to 30 paise per kWh/kVAh over the previous year.

For domestic consumers, the HERC has hiked the electricity rate by 20 paise per kWh (kilowatt hours). In a slab of zero to 50 units, the electricity rate has now been revised from Rs 2 per kWh to Rs 2.20 per kWh.

Similarly, the hike was also seen in the 51-100 units slab in which the rate has been increased from Rs 2.50 per kWh to Rs 2.70 per kWh.

With consumers having consumption of more than 100 units per month, in the slab of 0-150 units, the rate has been revised from Rs 2.75 per kWh to Rs 2.95.

For the industrial sector, the rate has been revised in the category of supply at 11 kVAh from Rs 6.65 per kVAh to Rs 6.95 per kVAh.