No power rate hike in Uttarakhand

In a big relief for domestic and commercial consumers, the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) has rejected the proposal of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. (UPCL) to hike power tariffs by 19.42 per cent for the year 2014-15.

Officiating chairman of the UERC C.S. Sharma said the UPCL had been instructed to submit a concrete action plan for improving the status of metering, collection system, recovery of arrears, curtailing outstanding billed amount and energy audit.

The UPCL has also been told to ensure 100 per cent metering by September 30 and submit its compliance report to the UERC by October 30. Further, UPCL officials have been instructed to ascertain reasons for high meter failure and submit its report within two months of this order.

In a related move, the government has waived off electricity and water bills for a period of three years in the Chardham tourist circuit which was the worst hit by the June deluge last year. A decision to this effect was taken by the state cabinet at a meeting last evening.

"We welcome the decision on waiver of electricity and water bills," said Kamaljit Singh, who runs Mandakini Hotel at Rudraprayag area in the Garhwal region. However, Singh said the government should also take a decision on other taxes like service tax and VAT which are causing huge burden on hotel business in the affected areas.

"Since tourists are no more to Chardham area, we request the government to take a decision on VAT and service tax also," said Singh.