President of Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA) K. Mariappan,on Sunday urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to reduce the electricity tariff, which was hiked on Saturday.
In a release, Mr. Mariappan, who is also nominated member of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), said the decision was a shock to every consumer.
According to him, all nominated members of TNERC during an advisory committee meeting where the draft copy of the proposed power tariff hike was discussed had made suggestions. But, they were not considered by the Commission.
Similarly, during the public hearing meetings held at Coimbatore, Madurai, and Chennai, participants from various sectors had opposed any hike in the existing power tariff and requested not to implement any of the proposals.
“After the tariff hike proposal came out, TANSTIA immediately represented to the Chief Minister to withdraw the hike based on the fact that the MSMEs are slowly recovering after COVID-19 pandemic during the last two years. Most of the MSMEs have to face financial crisis, mostly due to the introduction of high fixed charges, not only for the HT consumers but also for the first time for the LT consumers, ranging from the present fixed charges of ₹35 to up to ₹550 KVA in three slabs. We request the Chief Minister to intervene to make appropriate decisions to save the MSMEs by reducing the tariff increase,” Mr. Mariappan said in the release.
