Stepping in to rescue lakhs of harried consumers in Mumbai suburbs, Maharashtra Government is considering to instruct the state Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to stay power tariff hike by Reliance Infrastructure. The issue, affecting over 28 lakh consumers, came up for discussion during cabinet meeting helmed by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. Political parties including ruling Congress are up in arms the hike as Reliance power is costliest compared to other suppliers. Reliance Infrastructure last month hiked tariffs by 3 per cent with immediate effect, following a removal of a stay order issued by MERC. "Considering severity of the issue, the cabinet has informally decided to instruct MERC, using its special powers bestowed to under Section 108 of the Electricity Act, to ask Reliance Infrastructure to immediately stay the power hike," a cabinet minister said. The issue would now come up before the cabinet sub-committee on power for final approval, the minister said.
Earlier also, the State Government had instructed MERC to stay tariff hike by the Reliance. The MERC is a quasi-judicial authority with regulatory powers to approve or reject power tariff structures of all licensed energy distributors. Reliance Infrastructure has distribution licence for suburban Mumbai.
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