Vijayawada: AP Chambers urges government to reduce burden of power bills

Vijayawada : Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) President Potluri Bhaskara Rao, General Secretary B Raja Sekhar on Thursday met the Special Chief Secretary (Energy) K Vijayanand and submitted a representation on the burden of high energy charges on industries.

The Chambers mentioned about various electricity charges such as true-up, grid support charges, electricity duty, etc., that levied on industries and their impact on the financial viability of industries.

AP Chambers said that increase in Electricity Duty from 6 paise per unit to Re 1 per unit has added further woes to the already struggling industries. AP Chambers said that minimum demand charges were waived off for MSMEs by the State government as part of Restart Scheme for the period April to June, 2020.

But, the DISCOMS have collected the minimum demand charges for this period. They requested the state government to give directions to DISCOMS to adjust the collected amount against the future energy charges.

In view of the difficulties faced by the industry, AP Chambers requested the postponement of the enhancement of Electricity Duty (ED) charges for at least one year.

They said that the postponement of the enhancement of ED charges from 6 paise to Re 1 will give the entire industry time to adjust to the new economic reality and to invest in energy efficiency measures, a much-needed breathing space to recover and become more competitive.

AP Chambers also requested the Energy Secretary to instruct the DISCOMs to adjust the waiver of ED charges announced by the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during Covid period and to reimburse the power costs reimbursements/adjustments announced as per the AP Industrial policy 2020-23 immediately.