Consumers' SOS to TS government

Adilabad: Electricity consumers under Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSNPDCL) limits have urged the state government to save them from the additional burden of Advance Consumption Demand (ACD) charges imposed by power utilities.

Talking to The Hans India, many consumers said various decisions taken by the Union government had made their life tough. Prices of LPG, petrol and diesel have gone up. The demonetisation and hurriedly-implemented GST have added to the woes as prices of all essential commodities have skyrocketed.

As if this was not enough, the Central government in August 2022 brought in amendments permitting state electricity boards and distribution companies to add fuel surcharge every month without the permission of regulatory commission if the price of fuel used for electricity generation rises.

Now, the NPDCL has given a high voltage shock by levying Advance Consumption Demand. According to officials, this helps to protect the payment of Electricity department in case a customer refuses to pay the bill. The ACD charges are specified in the electricity bills issued to the consumer.

The authorities say that the money collected through ACD will be in the name of the consumer and there will be a facility to adjust the interest earned on their deposit in the monthly bills.

But the consumers say that they are not thieves. Last year, the Electricity department had put an additional burden in the name of customer development charges, and now ACD every month.

How can power utilities charge in advance? Question the villagers. A consumer from Vidyanagar colony of Adilabad town said that he used to get a bill of Rs 349 per month. But now he got a bill for Rs 1,351 because of ACD. The average bill after ACD in this area ranges between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500. The consumers said that they had taken loans to bear the burden of consumer development charges levied last year. How to meet this additional burden now? Better to revert to olden days where one used lanterns, they said. Another consumer said even some of his relations in Karimnagar and Jagtial received a bill for Rs 1,275 as against Rs 357 per month.