Guwahati: The All Assam Electricity Consumers’ Association (AAECA) on Tuesday criticised the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) over its proposed tariff structure and alleged neglect of consumer rights.AAECA advisor Bimal Das said APDCL has submitted its tariff petition to the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC), which is under consideration and is likely to come into effect from April. “Despite earning a profit of around Rs 400 crore in the last financial year under the existing tariff structure, APDCL has not proposed any tariff reduction for consumers,” Das said.“In so many previous tariffs, consumers had to bear burden of losses of APDCL. Electricity being an essential service and APDCL being a fully govt-owned distribution company it should desist from earning profit from the consumers,” Das also said.On smart meters, Das said Assam and Bihar topped the country in installations, and pointed to Bihar’s policy of providing 125 units of free electricity to domestic consumers since August last year. The association alleged no similar benefit has been extended in Assam and demanded immediate implementation of a comparable scheme for domestic consumers.Das alleged APDCL has not complied with the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, by failing to establish Consumer Grievance Redressal Forums (CGRF) at sub-division and division levels despite an AERC directive issued two years ago. He also claimed around 50 lakh domestic consumers have been shifted to pre-payment mode from post payment, but their security deposits have not been refunded and were instead shown as notional adjustments, which the association termed illegal.“The petty domestic consumers who could take a new power connection of one or two kilowatt by depositing only around Rs 3,000 earlier, are forced to bear more than Rs 10,000 now for the same connection. Now these prospective consumers need to pay around Rs 9000 for the so-called smart meter alone,” he further added.The association also raised safety concerns, alleging an increase in electrical accidents in the state and claiming APDCL continues to carry out distribution work through daily wage and contractual workers without adhering to safety norms.
