Power tariff hike justified; electricity a commercial commodity: PDD Chief Engineer

Says smart meters, LT cables will display consumers’ actual electricity consumption

Srinagar, Feb 16: Notwithstanding the public resentment against the hike in monthly electricity bills, the authorities at the Power Development Department (PDD) on Thursday said the charges will increase further as the installation of LT cables and smart meters will display consumer’s actual electricity consumption.

Alleging that many consumers use four to five times more electricity beyond their sanctioned load, the PDD Chief Engineer (Distribution), Javid Ahmad told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that there will be a revision of tariffs.

“With the installation of LT cables and smart meters, the people will come to know about their actual electricity consumption as many people are sanctioned with 0.5 KV load but are using 5 KV. So, it is still way below what they are paying against the consumption,” he explained.

Stating that the billing tariff will not remain the same indefinitely, he said power is a commodity that needs to be purchased by the government.

Rejecting the people’s demands of switching back to their previous monthly electricity bills, the chief engineer termed those “out of question”. “People at many places protested against the installation of smart meters and LT cables, but ultimately these were installed. We have to move ahead and treat electricity as a commercial commodity,” he stressed.

Terming the hike as “arbitrary”, the people from various localities of the Safakadal area in Srinagar on Wednesday staged a protest against the PDD.

The protestors said they are witnessing a regular increase in their monthly power bills, and urged the authorities to restore their monthly electricity billing to their earlier tariff—(KNO)