Head of the Department and Senior Engineer, Electricity Department, P. Murali, said on Tuesday that even though the revenue deficit was expected to be ₹187.76 crore during 2020-21 there was no need for any power tariff hike.
Speaking at the public hearing convened by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for the State of Goa and Union Territories, Mr. Murali said the additional 4% regulatory charges will be levied during the year. But there is no proposal to hike power tariffs during the year, he added.
The public hearing chaired by JERC Chairman M.K. Goel saw representatives of various political parties and organisations demanding reduction of power tariff.
They wanted more stringent measures to recover pending power tariff arrears to the tune of ₹400 crore from various departments and private consumers. They demanded strengthening of transmission and distribution network to plug power loss. Several consumers protested the tariff revision proposal. Former CPM state secretary V. Perumal, CPI functionary Geetha Nathan and Puducherry Students and Parents Association president Balasubramanian attended the meeting.
