Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to hold a protest rally against power tariff anomalies in Punjab.
The party has accused the state government of allowing the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to indulge in open ‘looting’ of power consumers in the state on behalf of private companies and government-sponsored power mafia, stating that the deliberate delay in generating and dispatching bills to consumers by two and a half months resulted in them paying an additional expense raging between 15 per cent and 20 per cent.
State convener and Sangrur Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann said that electricity offices in the state were not functional for the past 20-25 days.
The MP added that electricity bills, which should have reached all kinds of consumer 15-20 days ago, had not been even generated. He added that those seeking amendment in the wrongly-generated bills or seeking new power connections were left to suffer.
Mr Mann demanded that the PSPCL should direct all concerned to revert to the monthly bill system to prevent common consumers from being openly fleeced and added that all government power plants should be made functional by scrapping the anti-state and anti-people PPAs.
Stating that AAP would soon hold a massive protest rally in the state, Mr Mann said that if the Arvind Kejriwal government could provide up to 200 units of electricity to consumers for free, why couldn’t the state government provide power to consumers in Punjab at a cheaper rate.
