The third year of no power tariff hike in the Capital saw the AAP government rejoicing over its “achievement”, even as residents felt hidden costs were being imposed on them in the name of tweaked fixed charges.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the people of Delhi, saying that no change in the power tariffs (per unit cost) was a result of voting for an honest government.
‘Honest government’
“Congratulations to the people of Delhi. All this is only possible, because you chose an honest government,” Mr. Kejriwal tweeted, quoting a tweet by media advisor to the CM, Nagendra Sharma, announcing that Delhi did not witness any electricity tariff hike for the third consecutive year.
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia also took credit for maintaining low electricity rates in the city, as was promised by the party in their manifesto in the 2015 Assembly elections.
He added that a negligible surcharge of 3.70% has been added to pay the pensions of around 22,500 employees, which will go towards the pension trust fund.
All Delhiites, however, were not happy with the announcement. Mr. Saurabh Gandhi, general secretary of the United Residents of Delhi, a collective of resident welfare associations said the DERC, together with the power discoms, have slapped the residents with a hike in the name of fixed charges.
“All the promises that Delhi’s power minister Satyendar Jain made in the Assembly was false. It was an eyewash. The residents whose sanctioned load is 3 KW to 5 KW have to pay ₹5 to ₹75, apart from the 3.70% of surcharge,” Mr. Gandhi said.