IMPHAL, February 18: Joint Electricity Regulator Commission for Manipur and Mizoram chairperson RK Kishore Singh said the commission has received a petition from the Manipur State Power Distribution Company Limited (MSPDCL) for a 10 percent hike in the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Tariff Petition for distribution and retail supply business for the Financial Year 2016-17 to FY 2017-18.
The petition was filed under section 62 of the Electricity Act, 2003.
Kishore Singh was speaking in the 16th meeting of the State Advisory Committee (SAC) held at Hotel Classic.
He maintained the tariff hike is yet not finalise and will be settled tomorrow during the public hearing on tariff petition of MSPDCL FY 2016-17 at Hotel Classic.
Elaborating further, he said the MSPDCL is seeking the increase in tariff so as to safeguard itself from failure.
MSPDCL has been losing a huge amount of money every year as it is buying power from outside the State to meet the demand of the public, he said.
The State government is providing a huge amount of Rs 240 crore every year to the company in the form of subsidy, he added.
So in order to protect itself from failure and survive and at the same time improve the supply of electricity in the State, the MSPDCL needs the increase in tariff, he added.
He said the Electricity department is also facing many inconveniences due to lack og man-power.
Kishore further said that the company will complete the installation of pre-paid machines in the four valley districts and headquarters of the hill districts of the State by the month of May this year.
Meanwhile, during today’s meeting, many advisory members shared their opinions and suggestions on how to develop the company as well as power supply in the State.
The State Advisory Committee consists of people from all walks of life including advocates, journalists, CSO leaders.