UP Yuva Wyapar Mandal asks government to curb electricity theft, instead of increasing rates 

Noida : The Uttar Pradesh government increased electricity rates in the state on September 2nd when the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) announced its retail distribution tariff order for the current financial year, bringing about an average increase of 11.69% in power tariffs charged by the state government. The increased tariff, expected to affect domestic consumers the most, is expected to fetch an additional revenue of Rs 3,000 crore.

While interacting with Ten News tried on the issue, members of ” Uttar Pradesh Yuva Wyapar Mandal” expressed their displeasure over the hike. Vikas, a member of the mandal said “Government needs to use other ways for featching revenue. Electricity theft and illegal connection are the reason behind the loss and that needs to be stopped.”

Another members said “government is trying to hide its failure behind such decisions , economy is already in a very bad phase, market is witnessing slow down , people do not have work and such hikes are making the situation even worse. We totally condem it and demand government to take its decision back.”

The hike for the domestic metered category consumer is in the range of 8% to 12% while industrial (heavy) consumer category has been given a tariff hike in the range of 5% to 10%. For agricultural metered consumers, the increase is of 9%. The BPL or lifeline consumers using upto 100 units have been spared the hike.

The last tariff increase was in November 2017, when the commission had announced a 12% average hike. No tariff revision was made in 2018 since government-owned discoms had sought no change in view of Lok Sabha polls in the state. The UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) has sought an average increase of around 20% for 2019-20 to bring in the expected revenue of Rs 8,337.74 crore for the fiscal year.