Mr. Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, the Power Minister of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.,) cleared the air regarding the high electricity bills in A.P.
Recently, many domestic electricity consumers complained of hikes in bills starting from Rs. 5,000 to 9,000 of two months.
In regard to this, the opposition also slammed the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and protested against the increase of power charges.
However, putting an end to it, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, On the 21st of May, Mr. Reddy addressed a press conference and explained the reason for the hike in the electricity bills of March and April. He said, “The Government has changed the tariff policy only after the Electricity Regulatory Board (APERC) has collected a referendum; electricity usage is high due to scorching summer hence the current bills have spiked up.”
Explaining one such case of a woman who complained of getting Rs. 3,700 as electricity bill, Mr. Srinivas said the woman was charged Rs. 3,700 for using 671 units in March and April.
In another such allegation, Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, a member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said he got an electricity bill of Rs. 33,000. In regard to this, Balineni Srinivas Reddy said the TPD member had a pending bill of Rs. 14,000 and the charged amount is the total of pending amount and bill of March and April.
Criticising Chandrababu Naidu, the President of TDP, Mr. Reddy said, “Naidu (Chandrababu Naidu) has no right to speak about the reforms in (the) power sector.”
Since the lockdown came into effect, electricity bills and revised tariff policy is an issue for domestic consumers, who are in shock to get such high amounts of electricity bills.
The proposed lockdown which started on the 24th of March and revised thrice is proposed to end on the 31st of May across India.
Stay tuned for further updates.
