Electricity Price Hikes At Any Time

     In the country every sector in which Government Department is giving services’ lonely or along with private players to the public has ombudsman, which works to protect consumers from unfair trade practice by companies, State Electricity Regulatory Commissions are one of such authorities which worked as bridge between government and public, and if state electricity Boards/ Corporations have red inks in there balance sheets then they try to reduce or erase red inks from there papers by proposing to Regulatory Commission to amend the electricity price slabs and then responding on to the state electricity Boards/ Corporations state electricity regulatory commission look every aspect of the matters, seeks recommendations, consider objections if they receive from any section of society with sincerity and seriously and after thorough inputs on every angle, state electricity regulatory commission recommends and revise price of electricity and forward direction if it found had to be follow by board/corporation to check there losses, hence avoid to put all the burden on to the public.
     Punjab State Electricity Corporation Ltd had forward proposal to Punjab state electricity regulatory commission to revise the electricity prices’ few months back due to big difference shown in the papers of state electricity corporations’ income and expenses’, thus considering it need of hours to amend the prices of electricity, but Punjab has entered in the year of assembly elections, so it is most likely that commission will amend price of electricity marginally and will advise to state power corporation to reduce there expenses’, still as per speculations amendment of electricity prices’ can be in the range of 5 to 10 percent, problem with state power corporation is that it is under the debt net of 200 billion rupees and state government is not in position to clear its old outstanding, so all it is making very tough for the power corporation.
       Punjab State Regulatory Commission Chairperson Romila Dubey said while talking to media persons recently that new prices’ can be announced at any time and it will be effective from 1st April,2011, although they have completed all the formalities required at there end and delay in this regards is because they are waiting letter from state government of subsidies being given to agriculture sector, in her recent meeting with the state government officials they said commission will get soon letter from government as agriculture sector is getting free power that is why commission wants in writing from state government how much it will pay in hard cash during this year of subsidies.
     In few days times picture will clear and state residents will get response from regulatory commission how much it is going to slap different section of consumers with price hikes of electricity but it is certain that they won’t oversight that state is few months away of assembly elections, thus it will eschew to put heavy burden on consumers, instead can advise to the power corporation to check its expenses’, so in nutshell will choose the path to happy everybody public, power corporation and state government.