Calcutta:
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accused the TMC government in West Bengal of 'looting' power consumers, alleging that the state-owned utility was 'rearranging' tariff slabs, resulting in a hike in electricity bills during the current summer season.
Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, termed WBSEDCL's alleged move as “devious and cunning” to “get more out of consumers”.
According to him, the rate has not been increased, while the existing plates have been rearranged in such a way that consumers will ultimately pay significantly higher bills.
The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) has been accused of rescheduling tariff slabs, which could possibly result in a 20 percent increase in bills for a consumption of 300 units.
The utility has a consumer base of 2.03 crore.
In a post on
To illustrate the potential impact, Adhikari provided two scenarios based on the revised tariff slabs.
“Scenario 1 – where electricity consumption is 300 units. Consumers would have paid Rs 1,948.60 under the old slab. But with the recasting of the slab, consumers would end up paying Rs 2,351.18,” he said on X.
Similarly, in scenario 2, where consumption is 1,000 units, consumers would have paid Rs 7,456.04 under the old slab but would now be billed Rs 8,805.18.
Neither State Secretary Santanu Basu nor the WBSEDCL spokesperson responded to the allegation when contacted.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)