The Mizoram government has hiked power bills by 20%, prompting further protests from Youth Congress activists. These protests are being staged by Congress activists in Aizawl, Mizoram’s capital. Mr. Lalmalsawma Nghaka, the State Youth Congress President, led a protest outside the Vanapa Hall on Tuesday (August 24, 2021), accusing the government of stealing people by distributing government-issued documents.
He stated, “The power minister should take responsibility for the hike and bogus bills and must oblige to resign from his office for failing to look after his department efficiently. The government has hiked power tariff by 20.7%, which came into effect in April, at a time when people are facing hardship and livelihood crisis due to the pandemic.”
In addition, the Congress activist accused that the August electricity bills were excessively expensive. Some low-income families that have utilized less units have also been made to pay the usage fees. The fees vary between ten thousand and one lakh rupees.
Further, Mr. Nghaka added, “The government should withdraw all the bogus bills and re-issue correct bills to the consumers.”
Meanwhile, Lalduhajualo Sailo, the State Electricity Engineer-in-Chief, has dismissed the charges made by Congress lawmaker Lalmalaswama Ngahaka, claiming that there is no error in the electricity bills.
Mr. Sailo said, “Although meter reading was not done due to the lockdown, bills were prepared and consumption charges were calculated by taking together the average net value of the unpaid months based on the net amount of the previous bill.”
At the same time, he explained that the high electricity rates are due to a three-month combined bill from April to June.
Further, he said, “Power tariff is decided by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for the states of Mizoram and Manipur, which as a procedure, hold a public hearing before a hike.”
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