Hyderabad: Many consumers in the city have been asked to pay thousands of rupees as “development charges” as they have been using additional electricity, exceeding the sanctioned limit. This surprise charge has stunned the consumers and they allege lack of transparency in imposing such charges “arbitrarily” without prior public notice.
APCPDCL has also warned that failure to pay the additional charge within 24 hours will result in disconnection of electricity.
“I was given a bill by the APCPDCL department, operation, north circle, on Saturday asking me to pay '10,800 as development charges, citing additional load. But the authorities are not saying how they calculated the amount. Further, they will not accept the money in installments,” said A. Sudhakar on behalf of a group of residents of Shama Apartments in Sindhi Colony, Secunderabad. All of them have received same notice.
“The electricity officials say that since we have more than three air conditioners in our house, they are charging these development charges. But, there are many people including my friends in Hitec City, Madhapur, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, who have more than five ACs in their houses who have not received these development charges,” said Manmeet Singh, another resident of Sindhi Colony.
As per AP Electricity Regulatory Commissions (APERC) order released in 2013, the department is supposed to give a month’s notice and also display it on the notice boards at the regional offices and outlets. Officials, meanwhile, say that collection of development charges is a regular affair. “Development charges are imposed on those who have drawn more power than their sanctioned limits,” said Raguma Reddy, director, APCPDCL (commercial). However, he did not confirm on prior notice.
