With State elections coming up, all sorts of bribery/gimmicks are being tried to influence the people either by doles, gifts, promises of no defections, monthly stipends, etc. We are informed of no power tariff hike in 2022! The department says it has a revenue gap of Rs 251.69 crore which it proposes to meet with budgetary support from the State! As it is with pandemics taking a toll added with inflation and runaway high prices, right now the tariff is very high per unit but shown low with added things like fixed charges, duty charges, FPPCA and what not ! Why not let the consumer see the resultant charges per unit and the meter rent straightforward instead of complicated mathematics which bureaucrats use to confuse the consumer? The government will promise free electricity to farmers or upto a certain threshold of units and make a mess of efficient pollution-free generation, transmission losses, maintenance etc and confuse everyone with complicated bills and gimmicks. so the consumer has to eventually pay for it all! There are no free lunches.
