Residents oppose Puducherry Electricity Department’s multi-year tariff petition

Independent Legislator Nehru alias Kuppusamy, while opposing the tariff petition, said that power tariff was hiked every year, but grievances of electricity consumers, including problems in billing, had not been addressed so far

Residents, representatives of political parties, trade organisations, and industrial bodies opposed the business plan petition and multi-year tariff petition filed by the Puducherry Electricity Department for the period between 2025-26 and 2029-30, at a public hearing organised by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), a statutory body for the State of Goa and Union Territories, here on Tuesday (April 29, 2025).

Independent Legislator Nehru alias Kuppusamy, while opposing the tariff petition, said that power tariff was hiked every year, but grievances of electricity consumers, including problems in billing, had not been addressed so far. Frequent power disruptions in Puducherry had become routine, he said.

Though repeated representations have been made to the authorities concerned to establish a new sub-station near the Swadeshi mills on Cuddalore Road, no action has been taken, he said.

V. Balasubramanian, president of Pondicherry State Student and Parents Welfare Association, questioned the rationale behind the multi-year tariff petition when no specific improvements to infrastructure had been proposed in the plan to enhance service delivery.

The residents are already burdened with rising tariffs. However, the government has not outlined any measures to minimise the financial strain on consumers. The consumers should not be penalised with tariff hike for failure to prevent power theft and faulty meter reading, he said.

Several representatives of non-governmental organisations and political parties questioned the necessity to hike the tariff after a decision to privatise power distribution in the U.T. has been taken. They also expressed dismay over the department’s inaction in plugging distribution losses and recovering huge dues from various government departments and high tension (HT) power consumers. 

An official of the Electricity Department said that no tariff hike had been proposed for the current fiscal. Chairperson, JERC, Alok Tandon and Member (Law), JERC, Jyoti Prasad were present at the meeting.