: Protesting against the increased power tariff by Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC), which is a private company — a group of activists, college students and people from all walks of life assembled in front of the CESC House here on Wednesday demanding a rollback of the new power tariff.
Stating that Kolkata had the highest power tariff in the country, activist Amitabha Bhattacharya said the minimum charge per unit in Kolkata is Rs. 5.80, while it is Rs. 4.50 for the rest of India.
“Through the tariff orders on March 4, 2015, the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) has permitted the power distribution companies CESC and WBSEDCL to increase power tariffs for all categories of consumers… This tariff hike has been announced without a proper performance evaluation by the WBERC,” a release stated.
Catering to almost 29 lakh consumers, the CESC had grossed in profits worth Rs. 610 crore in the last financial year, yet it is greedy to hike the power tariff, Mr. Bhattacharya said.
“We demand the immediate rollback of the new tariff and the creation of a functional WBERC. The power tariff in Kolkata exceeds that in other metropolitan cities. We also protest against the monopoly of the CESC as the sole power distribution company in Kolkata, Howrah and adjoining areas. We will give a memorandum to some CESC officials later in the day,” Mr. Bhattacharya added.
Denying knowledge of any such protest meeting outside the CESC office, CESC spokesperson Mani Shankar Mukherjee told The Hindu that he had not received any memorandum in the day.
