Waive power bills: AAP

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 18

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday held protests against the “hefty” electricity bills imposed on the consumers during the lockdown.

The party said Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) was exploiting the common man, industrialists and traders by levying hefty power bills on the pretext of fixed charges.

The protests were staged in as many as 11 districts, including Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Mansa, Bathinda, Tarn Taran, Muktsar, Patiala, Barnala, Faridkot and Moga, where memorandums were handed over to the government through deputy commissioners (DCs), seeking waiver of power bills.

In a statement, party MLA and convener of Bijli Morcha Meet Hayer and state trade wing president Nina Mittal, said while the epidemic had been holding the entire country to ransom, the state government had, instead of given any fiscal relief to any section, added to their woes.

The party blamed the state government for not providing any financial help to the common man amid the Covid crisis.

Besides, probe into various scams such as sale of duplicate seeds, liquor, sand and drugs has been sought.

The party leaders alleged while the Modi government had hiked petrol prices by Rs 6.02 per litre and diesel Rs 6.40 per litre in just 11 days despite fall in the prices of crude oil, the Punjab Government had burdened the residents with hefty electricity bills.

Most business establishments, including shopping malls, marriage palaces, restaurants, hotels and gyms, besides schools had been shut for the last over two months, they said, adding that it was not justifiable to impose fixed charges on commercial power consumers.