Hyderabad: TPCC president A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday wrote an open letter to state chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on his decision to ‘burden the common man’ with Advance Consumption Demand (ACD) charges.
Revanth alleged that the state government was ‘extorting’ money from the common people to make up for a ‘bankrupt treasury’.
Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSNPDCL) said that 7.16 lakh consumers who failed to pay their bills will be subjected to Advance Consumption Demand (ACD) charges.
The power distribution company’s chairman and managing director A Gopal Rao on Thursday said that the pending bills in Telangana totalled about Rs 305 crore.
“The decision was in line with the guidelines issued by the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) and notices regarding ACD charges were issued in January,” remarked the director.
“At a time when people are suffering due to the impact of COVID-19, the state government is imposing an additional burden on citizens who are already forced to pay education taxes, green taxes, development taxes, and so on,” the TPCC chief said.
Revanth Reddy stated in the letter that the state government would witness a repeat of the Basheerbagh protest of August 2000 if the government didn’t withdraw this decision.
“Why are the power companies suffering losses of Rs 60,000 crore when KCR claims to provide a 24×7 power supply to farmers?” he asked.
He pointed out that ACD charges were only imposed on customers in north Telangana.
“The state government has taken up the Yadadri power project for the commission’s sake, resulting in an additional burden of Rs 40,000 crore on the people,” he alleged.
