Lucknow: Exactly a day after the municipal polls ended in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government gave a major ‘shock’ to the people in the state. The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) on Thursday hiked power tariff by almost 12 per cent with Rs 3 per unit for metered rural consumers for the first 100 units and Rs 4.50 per unit above the prescribed limit (100 units).
The UPERC said the BPL consumers, who used to get 150 units on a subsidised basis, will now be able to get only 100 units every month. Also, the urban consumers may have to shell out extra 12 per cent for electricity usage. Unmetered rural consumers will be worst affected by this move. For example, consumers who used to pay Rs 180 per month on the basis of fixed rental charge will be asked to install new meters and if they fail to do so they will have to pay Rs 600 to Rs 700 per month as fixed rental charges. The Samajwadi Party has termed the hike as a ‘betrayal’ of sorts.
