Ref. : ER/Press/’03/cersplea.51/SAM-DG

CERS seeks to Represent Mumbai Power Consumers in MERC

Consumer Education and Research Society(CERS), Ahmedabad, recently represented to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission(MERC) to accord it locus standi to represent the consumer point of view in the petitions filed by the Bombay Suburban Electricity Supply Ltd. (BSES) and Tata Power Company (TPC) Ltd for the approval of Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for 2003-2004.

CERS is recognised by the Government of Gujarat and the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs for obtaining State and Central level grants for consumer protection activities. The Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) has recognised CERS as an Investor Protection Organisation. CERS is a voting member of Consumers International (CI), London.

Our Chairman Emeritus Prof. Manubhai Shah is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC). CERS has been appearing before the GERC not only in respect of tariff-related issues but also other areas of consumer interest such as safety and shortage of power.

What has prompted CERS to involve itself in BSES and TPC petitions is the larger interest of the consumers in Mumbai. Consumers of the same category, namely, domestic, commercial and industrial in Mumbai pay different rates for electricity depending upon the suppliers like the TPC, BSES and BEST. In a city in which the bulk supply is from common source, this anomaly needs to be set right, CERS submitted to the MERC.

Electricity regulatory authorities for Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Orissa have adopted a uniform approach and regulated the retail power tariff charged by different distributors, CERS said.

CERS appealed to the MERC to grant it locus standi to represent the matter and urged it to direct the BSES, BEST and TPC to provide copies of petitions and supporting documents filed by them with the Commission so as to enable it to effectively represent the consumer point of view.

Date : 08/12/2003
Place: Ahmedabad

Pritee Shah
Editor
INSIGHT — The Consumer Magazine

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CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH SOCIETY
“Suraksha Sankool”, Thaltej, Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway,
Ahmedabad- 380 054 (INDIA)
Phone: 079-7489945-46 Fax: 079-7489947
E-mail: cerc@wilnetonline.net
Web Site: http://www.cercindia.org
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