Chennai, June 26:
The Tamil Nadu government ruled out any hike in power tariff for domestic and other consumer this year, Energy Resources and Law Minister CT Nirmal Kumar announced on Thursday.
Talking to reporters after releasing white paper on the financial and operational status of the TN power sector and the total debt burden, he said ruled out any revision for domestic and other consumers this year.
instead of passing it on to the consumers, the State government has decided to absorb the burden. The scheduled annual tariff revision would not be implemented and that consumers would continue to pay at existing rates, he said.
On the widespread requests for switching to monthly electricity billing cycle, Nirmalkumar said the government was working towards introducing the system and that the necessary preparatory work was under way. He said additional field personnel would be recruited as multi-purpose field engineers to undertake meter assessment and billing functions, as the utility currently faced a shortage of assessment staff. The new recruits would be trained to handle multiple field operations instead of being assigned only billing-related work, he added.
The Minister reiterated that subsidies for domestic consumers and farmers would continue without any change, while the government would simultaneously explore alternative revenue sources to improve the financial health of the utility.
On smart meters, Nirmalkumar said the government had not yet taken a final policy decision on large-scale implementation despite pressure from the Union government.
Noting that concerns remained over the long-term viability of the technology, including dependence on communication systems and future technological changes, the Minister said the government was inclined to initially install smart meters only in government buildings before deciding on wider implementation.