No meters at staff homes yet, UPPCL gears up to file annual tariff revision proposal
LUCKNOW :UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) is gearing up to file the annual revenue requirement (ARR)-cum-tariff revision proposal for 2020-21 without giving effect to the current tariff order with regard to its employees and pensioners.
The corporation has stopped making deductions from the staff’s salary for the monthly charges fixed for unmetered power consumption after the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) in its September 3 tariff order abolished their separate category (LMV 10) and clubbed them with the MLV 1 category applicable to domestic consumers.
On the other hand, the corporation has not been able to even start the exercise of installing meters at the power men’s premises as mandated by the tariff order.
“This is for the first time when UPERC’s tariff order has been implemented for all other consumers, except the power employees even as UPPCL is preparing to file yet another ARR/ tariff revision proposal,” sources said.
“After UPERC abolished the power employees’ separate tariff
THE CORPORATION HAS STOPPED MAKING DEDUCTIONS FROM THE STAFF’S SALARY FOR THE MONTHLY CHARGES FIXED FOR UNMETERED POWER CONSUMPTION
category and put them in the schedule applicable to any other domestic consumer, UPPCL should have installed meters at the staff’s residences or started doing normative billing in their case (as it is done in case of a domestic consumer with no or defective meter) till the meters were installed,” they pointed out.
Under the rules prevailing till the last tariff order, the power employees were supposed to pay monthly charges fixed for them for unmetered and unlimited electricity use. The charges were deducted from their monthly salary.
“But UPPCL had to stop deductions because making deductions would have been illegal since the regulator has abolished LMV 10 category after which power employees were supposed to pay like any other domestic consumer,” sources said.
UPPCL has not been able to install meters at its staff’s residences despite the regulator’s repeated orders and chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s directives issued during a meeting on August 16.
In the petition it has filed before the Appellate Tribunal For Electricity (APTEL) challenging UPERC’s September tariff order, UPPCL has disputed the staff’s monthly power consumption assumed by the regulator. UPERC has put the average monthly consumption per employee per month at 600 units. UPPCL, in its petition, argued UPERC’ computation of average consumption was on a higher side because of which it had been allowed lower tariff hike.