BJP Leader Accuses Trinamool Of "Looting" Power Consumers

Kolkata:

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accused the TMC government in West Bengal of "looting" power consumers, asserting that the state-run utility has "rearranged" tariff slabs, which resulted in an increase in electricity bills during the current summer season.

Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, termed the alleged move by WBSEDCL as "shrewd and cunning" to "extract more" from consumers.

According to him, the tariff rate hasn't been increased, while the existing slabs have been rearranged in such a manner that consumers will end up paying significantly higher bills.

The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) has been accused of rearranging tariff slabs, potentially resulting in an increase in bills by 20 per cent for consumption of 300 units.

The utility has a consumer base of 2.03 crore.

In a post on X, Adhikari also claimed that the revised tariff slabs for the quarterly electric bills for the May-July period reveal inconsistencies, with consumers receiving different slab structures.

To illustrate the potential impact, Adhikari provided two scenarios based on the revised tariff slabs.

"Scenario 1 - where the electricity consumption is 300 units. Consumers would have paid Rs 1,948.60 according to the old slab. But due to the rearrangement of slab, consumers would end up paying Rs 2,351.18," he said on X.

Similarly, in scenario 2, where consumption is 1000 units, consumers would have paid Rs 7,456.04 under the old slab but would now get a bill of Rs 8,805.18.

Neither state power secretary Santanu Basu nor the WBSEDCL spokesperson responded to the allegation when contacted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)