AIPEF Appeals to MPs to Oppose Electricity Amendment Bill
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: Navabharat
New Delhi: The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has urged all Members of Parliament to oppose the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020.
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 is expected to be introduced in Parliament in the current Monsoon session.
"AIPEF has urged all the Members of Parliament to oppose the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 that has anti-people draconian provisions and aims at total privatisation of the Power Sector," an AIPEF statement said.
AIPEF has written letters on Saturday to all the Members of Parliament.
V K Gupta a spokesperson of AIPEF said in the letter it has been mentioned that a number of states have already raised serious objections on the number of issues in the Bill that have not been addressed in the Draft Bill.
Under such circumstances, they should raise serious reservations and objections on the Bill as and when introduced in Parliament, it said.
Further, the Bill should be referred to the standing committee on energy, it added.
Electricity is a concurrent subject whereas the Amendment Bill is an attempt of the centre to impose its will on the states without their concurrence.
The Bill proposes to eliminate subsidy in tariff and introduce a new tariff based on the cost of electricity.
This would make the tariff of domestic and agricultural consumers 'unaffordable', the body pointed out.
The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of power, the subsidy would adversely impact the farmers, it claimed.
The Centre wants to dictate the electricity tariff by making the state electricity regulatory commissions (SERC) subservient to tariff policy that would be determined by the centre, it also said.
The Centre intends to introduce privatization of electricity distribution functions by introducing Distribution Sublicensees and franchisees to distribute power without a license, it said.
The private parties would take over the high revenue and profitable areas which would further financially impact the State Discoms, it pointed out.
In view of the comments received from various states, some proposals with regard to a single selection committee for the SERC and DBT needs to be modified, it demanded.
The revised draft should be circulated in the public domain for getting the comments from all the stakeholders, Gupta said.
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