The A.P. Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (APCCIF) has written a letter to Union Minister for Power R.K. Singh, requesting him to not let the Discoms pass on their losses to the consumers as it will be an unbearable burden for them.
In the letter written on Saturday, APCCIF president Pydah Krishna Prasad had said that the draft Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2023, provided for quantification of the gains / losses accrued to the Discoms due to deviations from the approved Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) loss reduction trajectory, on the basis of average power purchase costs, and for sharing them between the Discoms and consumers.
He observed that if the Discoms start charging the consumers for the losses incurred by them, the costs for consumers would escalate, and affect the financial viability of their units at a time when they were reeling under the impact of global recession.
“The production costs have gone up exponentially due to increase in raw material, power and logistics costs, and the power tariffs in Andhra Pradesh are extremely high. This apart, the true-up charges are an additional burden.”Pydah Krishna Prasad APCCIF president
The production costs had gone up exponentially due to the increase in raw material, power and logistics costs, and the power tariffs in Andhra Pradesh were extremely high, ranging from ₹8 to ₹10, depending on the category. Adding to the tariffs were the true-up charges.
Due to all those factors, and the slump in demand the world over, the exports from the MSMEs had drastically fallen. Passing the Discoms’ losses to consumers was, therefore, not at all acceptable, Mr. Krishna Prasad said.
