North RWA agrees to ‘reasonable’ electricity hike,others cry foul

“We have a very high regard for NDPL,which often had to purchase power at very high costs and supply it to us without hiking the rates. If there is an increase in purchase cost,the power tariff can be increased by a reasonable amount. We think this is needed to improve operational convenience and ensure customer satisfaction. We will welcome the move,” Mohanty,who represents over 700 RWAs,said.

His statement,however,was met with vehement opposition from others present at the hearing. Responding angrily,Rajiv Kakria,chairman of the Greater Kailash-1 RWA,said Mohanty was not speaking for all the customers. “You are welcome to increase rates in the NDPL area if you want,but I have spoken to people from South,East as well as West Delhi,and nobody agrees with the view,” he said.

Residents of Malviya Nagar,Vasant Kunj and Asian Games Village also voiced their opposition.

Later,Kakria argued that the discoms had installed faulty meters,in which the neutral wire was connected to the recording mechanism. He argued that as a result,the meters were recording neutral backflows that were not actually part of the consumer’s usage.

“In response to my petition,BSES said consumers are free to have their meters checked on their own. However,they said it has to be done by the Central Power Research Institute in Bangalore,which is the same agency that they use for testing. But why should I use the same agency? Why can’t I have my meters checked by IIT-Delhi or Delhi College of Engineering?” he asked.