RWAs threatens to hit roads against power tariff hike

NOIDA: An umbrella body of Noida residents demanded a rollback of the 10% increase in power tariff to be implemented from July 1 across the state. The Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Associations (FONRWA) threatened to stage a demonstration and file a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Allahabad high court against the increased rate if the tariff is not revised by July 1.
On Saturday, FONRWA members submitted a three-point memorandum to the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) chairman, Desh Deepak Verma. In the memorandum, they pointed out line losses in Noida are minimum in the state, approximately 7% compared to nearly 34% in various other parts of UP.
Secondly, revenue recovery in Noida is around 100%, as against 50-70% in other areas of UPPCL. “Revenue recovery in Noida is the highest, both in terms of per unit as also on percentage basis. It is also to be noted that there is hardly any debt. Furthermore, revenue recovery in Noida is also increasing steadily,” said N P Singh, acting president of FONRWA.
Thirdly, the realization per unit in case of Noida has also gone up to Rs 5/ - per unit whereas the energy cost per unit is much less.
Therefore, with the reduction in losses in Noida, the consumer tariff was expected to be correspondingly reduced. “Despite the fall in line losses, the tariff has been steadily rising,” said A N Dhawan, acting senior vice-president.
FONRWA members also claimed that tariff rate in the case of a private entity like Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL – that supplies power to Greater Noida) has not been hiked although line losses are much higher in Greater Noida than in the Noida circle.