Power consumers in suburbs to witness 22% drop in bills

Mumbai: With the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) giving a go-ahead to RInfra to rationalize power tariff for the next two years, one can expect power bills to drop by 22% in the suburbs. The Tata Power Company (TPC) already provides power in these areas at cheaper rates, with a recent survey showing that those who switched from RInfra to TPC saved up to 46% on monthly bills.      "It is a win-win situation for power consumers in the suburbs," said consumer rights activist Ashok Pendse.      Power expert Sandeep Ohri said he, along with several activists, had fought for the past five years to make power cheaper in the suburbs. "We encouraged competition and now electricity will be cheaper and services better."      RInfra spokesperson Vivek Devasthali said, "After the MERC's multi-year tariff order, our average billing rate will drop from Rs 7.98 a unit in 2013-14 to Rs 6.23 a unit in 2015-16. The MERC order has taken into account input costs such as transmission and distribution losses till 2016."      The TPC has announced that it has signed an MoU with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, a joint venture of public sector units under the power ministry.  Dadar-Matunga suffers 30 min outage T here was a power outage for half an hour in parts of Dadar, Matunga and Mahim on Tuesday night due to a cable fault. A BEST official said the feeder line was switched to an alternate cable after the tripping and electricity was restored. Meanwhile, industry associations have decided to go on a statewide demonstration on October 18 against the recent increases in power tariff by 22-25%. Representatives will burn copies of electricity bills and take a delegation to the government, said activist Pratap Hogade. TNN