Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jan 25: District general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangha, Satyanarayana Udupa Japti, questioned the justification in Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (Mescom) approaching Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission with a proposal to hike electricity charges by Rs 1.48 per unit. He pointed out that compared to other electricity supply companies in the state, Mescom is running in profit.

He was addressing a meeting held here under the aegis of Consumers forum, and district consumers information centre here about the proposed power tariff hike.

"If the power tariff is hiked by Rs 1.48 per unit, for some people, hike will be as high as 70 percent of their current bills. He recalled that last time a hike in electricity charges was sought from the commission, out of 11,000 objections filed in the entire state, 9,500 had come from this district alone.

Udupa said that Mescom has been showing profit consecutively since the last four years. He added that the maintenance happens to be good and distribution and transmission is not considerable here. He felt that by approaching the commission for a hike in tariff, Mescom is showing the mindset of businessmen instead of remaining a service-oriented entity. He also stated that Mescom has registered recovery of 103 percent, as many people in coastal belt are paying bills in advance.

President of Consumers Forum, K Damodar Aithal, presided. President of district Chamber of Commerce and Industrie, Krishnarao Kodancha, was present.