CPI-M demands end to true-up costs and FPPCA policies; calls them anti-growth

Leaders of Left parties staging a protest against true-up charges, near the venue of a public hearing conducted by APERC in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: KVS GIRI

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has urged the State government to revoke the true-up charges and Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA) policies, stating that the current electricity tariffs and policies are detrimental to the State’s growth.

CPI-M State Secretariat member Ch. Babu Rao, along with other party representatives, submitted their objections to the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) during a public hearing on Tuesday.

Mr. Babu Rao alleged that DISCOMs are unjustly collecting crores of rupees under the pretext of true-up and FPPCA charges while falsely claiming that consumers are not being burdened under the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR). He highlighted that the decision to increase electricity duty from 6 paise to ₹1 would enable DISCOMs to extract ₹19,600 crore from the public in instalments.

He criticised the government for moving ahead with plans to replace functioning meters with smart prepaid meters without informing consumers. He also accused the NDA government of imposing a burden of ₹72,022 crore on consumers under various pretexts. He pointed out that the coalition government had assured voters before the elections that electricity charges would not be increased but reduced and that smart meters would not be installed on agricultural pump sets. But they have failed to keep all promises, he said.

The previous government struck a deal with Adani companies for solar energy through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) with ₹1,750 crore kickbacks, resulting in an annual burden of ₹10,872 crore. Even though Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu acknowledged the same in a white paper, the government hesitated to cancel the agreement, he said.

During the  previous YSRCP government, electricity charges were increased steeply, resulting in a burden of ₹33,000 crores, he said, adding: “Why is the new government continuing to implement the mistakes of the previous government, such as collecting 40 paise per unit in advance every month?”