The tariff increase announced by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) on Thursday has come as a rude shock to the people of all sections and commercial consumers.
T. Sadagopan, a consumer activist, criticised the hike, especially for those consuming above 500 units. He said the increase was unjustified and would burden the middle class. He questioned the purpose of conducting public hearings when the government had already decided on increasing the tariff.
Traders have opposed the decision. Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sankangalin Peramaippu president A.M. Vikramaraja said the increase would lead to a price rise. “Traders will have to pay 15 per cent more. The government is targeting traders. The decision will lead to inflation and affect the common man,” he said.
Tamil Nadu Hotels Association president M. Venkadasubbu said the increase would affect the industry as it was heavily dependent on electricity. “From cooking to air-conditioning, power is the basic requirement of hotels, and at a time when the business is down, it is bound to affect the business further. Though we had strongly objected to the proposal at the public hearing, our concerns have not been addressed,” he said.
The decision will mean a significant increase in operation costs for IT companies, according to K. Purushothaman of the NASSCOM. “Around 30 per cent of the administrative cost in the IT industry was budgeted for electricity,” he said.
For manufacturing industries and commercial units too, the hike will make a difference to the cost of operation. Ravichandran Purushothaman, chairman of the CII Chennai Circle, said: “The increase in cost will be a burden on small and medium industries.”
( With inputs from R. Srikanth, Kavita Kishore, Aloysius Xavier Lopez and Deepa H. Ramakrishnan )
