The High Tension power consuming industries here have welcomed the recent High Court order that set aside the orders of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) demanding MD charges and compensation from them during the lockdown period.
The court directed Tangedco to issue a revised bill to the petitioners by applying Regulation 6(b) of the Supply Code for the entire period when the establishments were shut down. If it has already recovered the entire dues from the petitioners, the bill should be reworked and the excess amount should be adjusted towards future bills, it said.
N. Murugesan, president of the South India Spinners’ Association, which had taken up the issue with the Court, said the industries were shocked when the Tangedco raised electricity bills for April 2020, calculating 90 % of demand charges and had levied penalty charges for the low power factor for all the HT units.
The power factor would be below the norms because of the total lockdown. Hence, the HT consumers requested Tangedco to collect only 20 % of demand charges and waive the power factor penalty to safeguard the industries.
Since there was no remedy from Tangedco, the association approached the court, he said and welcomed the order passed by the High Court.
N. Pradeep, secretary of Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers’ Association (TECA), said the Tangedco was unlawfully collecting 90 % of fixed charges though the regulation permitted it to collect only the minimum of 20 % or recorded demand. The Tangedco was not making any loss as consumers were ready to pay for the used or consumed electricity units. However, it had demanded industries to pay fixed charges as under normal conditions even during the pandemic and the lockdown that was implemented to control the spread of the disease.
Tangedco had refused to implement the order of the Tamilnadu Electricity Regulatory Commission too. Hence, the industries had no option but to approach the court, he said.
“The order confirms the right of the industries to pay only the electricity charges for their consumption,” he added.