Mysore/Mysuru: The hike in power tariff has distressed the common man, industrialists and traders in Karnataka who are already going through various challenges due to local and global factors beyond their control and according to Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysuru (FOAM), the most vulnerable sections of traders are finding it difficult to even survive.

Addressing a press conference at Pathrakarthara Bhavan yesterday, office-bearers of FOAM said that the power tariff hike will adversely impact trade, industry and commerce, apart from mounting additional financial burden on the domestic consumers

President of FOAM B.S. Prashanth, Vice-President C. Narayanagowda and Secretary M.R. Rajaram addressed the media while Joint Secretary K.R. Sathyanarayana and Director A. Sudheendra were present.

The Government has resorted to revise the tariff that violated the regular and annual increases. This time, the fixed charges and fuel adjustment charges have also been hiked with retrospective effect and added to that is the per unit increase. This has unfairly affected the common man and the business community, they said.

“The Government (Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission) has not applied its mind while increasing the tariff as all households will end up paying 100 percent more than the previous bills and the industries will also pay 50 percent more,” the office-bearers said.

They threw light on the factors behind the KERC approval for a power tariff hike and deficiencies of the State-owned electricity supply companies in the optimal utilisation of resources, minimising the leakages and the effective recovery mechanisms.

“Why are we consumers forced to pay excessively when there are a host of inefficiencies in the electricity supply companies,” they questioned and said that the KERC comes under the State Government and must be held accountable for its decisions. The Government, instead of blaming the KERC, must reconsider the tariff hike, they pointed out. 

“If recurring costs like power go up, many industries, traders may be forced to contemplate shutting shop. Those operating in the neighbourhood of other States may even explore possibilities of shifting to other States where such costs are lesser,” they added.  Increase in fiscal expenditure should not be at the cost of the industry. Any additional burden will end up as a tipping point for industries to take hard measures, they said.

The FOAM has fervently appealed to the Government to first talk to representatives of industry and trade, take stock of their situation and only then consider such issues of tariff revision and roll back the hikes that have already been implemented.