The Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi will organise agitations demanding a rollback of the power tariff hike and collection of additional deposits by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). It will also protest against the imposition of 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on essential commodities.
In a statement, P.C. Jacob and A.J. Riyas, president and secretary respectively of the Ernakulam unit of the Samithi, said mismanagement at the KSEB and payment of high salaries to its employees had pushed the Board into a debt trap.
Terming the revision of rates as “exploitation of the people”, the Samithi representatives said Kerala was the only State with high electricity charges in the country. The collection of additional deposits by the KSEB was also unreasonable, they said.
The Samithi also alleged that traders were being harassed in the name of plastic ban. The problem had to be tackled either at the manufacturing stage itself or the government should come out with an alternative packing mode, they added.
