Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Sep 20: By filing maximum number of petitions objecting to the proposal of the electricity supply companies (escoms) of the state to upwardly revise the power tariff, general public, various organizations, as well as commercial and industrial units located four districts falling within the jurisdiction of Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom), have asked Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) not to pay heed to the proposal.
At the public hearing on these petitions conducted by KERC at the office of the district deputy commissioner here on Monday September 19, chairman of KERC, M R Srinivasa Murthy, said that Mescom, with 4,602 objections, tops the list of objections, adding that the objections received from the region is equivalent to total number of objections filed in all the other escoms in the state together.
S S Kamath, chartered accountant, placing his arguments before the commission on behalf of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the audited accounts of Mescom indicate that there is no case for hike in power tariff. Rajaram Shetty representing Karnataka State Small Scale Industries Association, and Jairaj Pai, president of Dakshina Kannada District Small Industries Association, also strongly opposed the hike proposal. Farmers’ organizations and other organizations too stoutly opposed the proposal.
Managing director of Mescom, Vijayanarasimha, explained with the help of facts and figures that a hike of 88 paise per unit is justifiable because of yawning gap between revenue and expenses, apart from swelling bills that are expected to go up steeply on account of power purchases.
KERC chairman as well as some customers also praised Mescom for its achievements and performance on the occasion. They asked the company to further improve its efficiency.
KERC chairman, M R Srinivasa Murthy, presided. Members of the commission, Vishwanath Hiremath and K Srinivas Rao, director, N Nagesh, and financial advisor, K Jayaram Alva and chief engineer, M Mahadeva, were present. The commission is expected to issue orders on the issue before the end of October.