Members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a protest in front of the office of Tangedco Superintending Engineer on Meenakshinaickenpatti Bypass Road here on Tuesday, condemning the proposed hike in electricity tariff.
“More than 1,500 petitions were submitted at the office by party members and the public demanding cancellation of the proposed tariff hike in the range of ₹55 to ₹1,330,” said R. Sachithanantham, district party secretary.
“When businesses are trying to return to normalcy, the hike in power tariff will be a big blow,” he said.
The protesters also wanted implementation of monthly electricity billing system, which was one of the DMK’s Assembly election promises.
Further, they demanded cancellation of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 8. “This will pave the way for privatisation of distribution sector, which will definitely put the public interest at stake. Private parties would be free to fix charges as distribution directly affects the tariff unlike production sector,” said Mr. Sachithanantham.
District executive committee members P. Selvaraj, P. Vasanthamani and T. Muthusamy were present.
A similar protest was held by party functionaries in front of the office of Tangedco Divisional Engineer on R.P. Road in Palani. District executive committee members Kamalakkan and Ramasamy were present.
