Industrial consumers in Bengal drag power utilities to court over fixed charges

    Kolkata, May 31 (PTI) A section of industrial power
consumers has taken a legal recourse against the utilities in
West Bengal after their plea for relief on the fixed charges
among other demands in the lockdown was rejected, an official
said.
    The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission had
also paid no heed to their demands, when they approached the
regulator, the high-tension power consumers claimed.
    According to them, Union Minister of State for Finance
and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur has come in support of the
industries during a recent interaction with the consumers.
    The minister suggested that the West Bengal government
should allow deferment of payments for at least six months as
the Centre has already provided Rs 90,000 crore to the state-
owned power distribution companies, so that a temporary relief
can be extended.
    The state governments such as Maharashtra, Punjab,
Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have offered some benefits to their
industrial consumers and announced rebates on load-factor in
electricity bills, Steel Re-Rolling Mills' Association of
India chairman Vivek Adukia said.
    The fixed charges are an amount that consumers pay
monthly to stay connected to grid, while the variable charges
are calculated on the basis of units consumed.
    "We had gone against the Damodar Valley Corporation.
Other high-tension consumers had gone against their respective
suppliers including WBSEDCL after their requests were turned
down," Adukia told PTI.
    The iron and steel sector was the worst-hit as they
are required to pay huge amount on account of the electricity
bills, though the mills remained shut for 4-5 weeks during the
lockdown, he said.
    They demanded invoking of "force majeure" clause as
the lockdown was announced by the government to contain the
spread of COVID-19.
    "Force majeure" is a clause that absolves firms from
meeting their contractual commitments for reasons beyond their
control.
    Adukia said the court has directed the WBERC to listen
to their grievances.
    "The regulator is yet to hear our demand. It is
expected to happen soon," he said, adding that the
associations of various industries have also written to the
state power minister about their issues.
    The distribution companies, however, said they cannot
provide relief on fixed charges as it is a part of the current
contracts and have similar agreements with the power
producers.
    The Centre is expected to issue guidance to the
central power companies including NTPC, NHPC and Power Grid
Corp (PGCIL) advising them to defer fixed charges on
electricity not drawn by distribution companies and offer
rebates. PTI BSM
BDC BDC

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)