Check this out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9E-KdDQ7l0
Its the presentation I made at MERC's Public hearing on Rel Infra's Tariff petition.
Got a copy thru RTI.
Hope this encourages more people to make presentations.
More at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee
Showing posts with label Tariff hike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tariff hike. Show all posts
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Reliance Tariff Hike - Public Response
The response that I will be submitting to Reliance is attached here and here
Go through it so that you may understand the issues we are dealing with. I am not a legal expert and the legal fraternity may excuse my attempt at this :)
Anyway, I have attempted to include all the issues that would affect Residential consumers.
The procedure is thus:
1. Fill in your name, postal address tel/mobile and email ID (before you take prints). Details need to be filled on Page 1, Page 2 and Page 19.
2. Before Thurs, March 19th, make sure one copy is delivered to
Mr. Ramesh Shenoy, Company Secretary
Reliance Infrastructure Limited
Reliance Energy Centre
Santa Cruz (E)
Mumbai 400055
You would need to show proof of service so make 2 copies and get one stamped / acknowledged by their office - or retain Fax/courier slip (in which case you may need to do it at least one day earlier). There is no email provided for Reliance - so that makes it a little more difficult for us! However, I tried sending it to ramesh.shenoy@relianceada.com.
3. Make 6 copies of the submission (actually make 7, you will need one for yourself!) and attach the fax/courier/stamped page on all 6 copies and then send it before Thurs Mar 19th, to
The Secretary
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
13th Floor, Centre No. 1, World Trade Centre
Cuffe Parade
Mumbai 400005
Fax: 2216 3976
email: mercindia@mercindia.org.in
To see what really happens, come for the Public Hearing on Thurs Mar 26th at Rangsharda Natya Mandir, Bandra Reclamation, Bandra (W). The hearing starts at 11am.
Let's try and ensure we get justice done !
- Sandeep.
Go through it so that you may understand the issues we are dealing with. I am not a legal expert and the legal fraternity may excuse my attempt at this :)
Anyway, I have attempted to include all the issues that would affect Residential consumers.
The procedure is thus:
1. Fill in your name, postal address tel/mobile and email ID (before you take prints). Details need to be filled on Page 1, Page 2 and Page 19.
2. Before Thurs, March 19th, make sure one copy is delivered to
Mr. Ramesh Shenoy, Company Secretary
Reliance Infrastructure Limited
Reliance Energy Centre
Santa Cruz (E)
Mumbai 400055
You would need to show proof of service so make 2 copies and get one stamped / acknowledged by their office - or retain Fax/courier slip (in which case you may need to do it at least one day earlier). There is no email provided for Reliance - so that makes it a little more difficult for us! However, I tried sending it to ramesh.shenoy@relianceada.com.
3. Make 6 copies of the submission (actually make 7, you will need one for yourself!) and attach the fax/courier/stamped page on all 6 copies and then send it before Thurs Mar 19th, to
The Secretary
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
13th Floor, Centre No. 1, World Trade Centre
Cuffe Parade
Mumbai 400005
Fax: 2216 3976
email: mercindia@mercindia.org.in
To see what really happens, come for the Public Hearing on Thurs Mar 26th at Rangsharda Natya Mandir, Bandra Reclamation, Bandra (W). The hearing starts at 11am.
Let's try and ensure we get justice done !
- Sandeep.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Reliance's Proposed Tariff Hike
I have been going through the Reliance Tariff petition and was trying to find out the increase in electricity charges, since Sep 2006 (the past 30 months). I was surprised with the results and decided to prepare a 'calculator' for Reliance customers to realize how much their tariff has gone up in the past 30 months.
I've uploaded the file here on the Bijlee YahooGroup site and you can sign in to access it (scroll down the list to reach the file "Revised_Reliance_Tariff_Calculator.xls).
All you need to do is input your consumption in the yellow box on the first sheet - and the data will appear as to how much you would have paid at various intervals during this time frame. The dates taken are based on the various tariff orders issued by MERC.
I have included the figure of what would happen, if Reliance's current proposal is approved.
Just to give you a few examples:
1. If your consumption is 100 units - in Sep 2006 you would have paid Rs. 205.29, and (if Reliance's proposal is approved) from Apr 2009, you would be paying Rs. 418.76 - a whopping 104% up in 30 months - and average of almost 42% per year (or 3.5% per month)
2. If your consumption is 400 units - in Sep 2006 you would have paid Rs. 1,577.15, and (if Reliance's proposal is approved) from Apr 2009, you would be paying Rs. 2,923.84 - an increase of 85% in 30 months - and average of approx 34% per year (or nearly 2.9% per month).
Just to put this in perspective, the official Inflation Index for India for FY 2006-07 was 519 and for FY 2008-09 it is 582, which means that as per the Govt. the actual inflation has been around 12% (582/519) for this period.
Also, from Sep 2006 till date, central excise duty has come down from 14% to 8% (down 43%), service tax has come down from 12.36% to 10.3% (down 17%), the price of oil (per barrel) has come down from US$ 63.75 to US$ 41.31 (down 35%) - and yet Reliance has petitioned MERC with an increase that will end up in us paying almost 30% MORE.
I wonder if our disposable incomes went up as much !!
The MERC Public Hearing on Reliance's Tariff Petition is scheduled for Thursday, March 26th at Rangsharda, Bandra Reclamation at 11am. I trust at least a few of you would file a public response opposing the hike (I will be filing one - and you would like to do that, please email me and I send you a copy of what I file).
For those who can't wait - send an email to mercindia@mercindia.org.in - not that they take cognizance of emails - but still 1,000 emails can make a BIG difference - considering that there are about 28 Lakh consumers of Reliance... and don't forget to mark me a copy!
Go ahead and try this - and do send me your feedback at sandeep.ohri@ymail.com (bouquets and brickbats - both will be accepted humbly).
- Sandeep
(Disclaimer: I have tried to make this calculator as accurate as possible - but please try and understand that this is really complex and hey.. who said everyone was perfect!)
I've uploaded the file here on the Bijlee YahooGroup site and you can sign in to access it (scroll down the list to reach the file "Revised_Reliance_Tariff_Calculator.xls).
All you need to do is input your consumption in the yellow box on the first sheet - and the data will appear as to how much you would have paid at various intervals during this time frame. The dates taken are based on the various tariff orders issued by MERC.
I have included the figure of what would happen, if Reliance's current proposal is approved.
Just to give you a few examples:
1. If your consumption is 100 units - in Sep 2006 you would have paid Rs. 205.29, and (if Reliance's proposal is approved) from Apr 2009, you would be paying Rs. 418.76 - a whopping 104% up in 30 months - and average of almost 42% per year (or 3.5% per month)
2. If your consumption is 400 units - in Sep 2006 you would have paid Rs. 1,577.15, and (if Reliance's proposal is approved) from Apr 2009, you would be paying Rs. 2,923.84 - an increase of 85% in 30 months - and average of approx 34% per year (or nearly 2.9% per month).
Just to put this in perspective, the official Inflation Index for India for FY 2006-07 was 519 and for FY 2008-09 it is 582, which means that as per the Govt. the actual inflation has been around 12% (582/519) for this period.
Also, from Sep 2006 till date, central excise duty has come down from 14% to 8% (down 43%), service tax has come down from 12.36% to 10.3% (down 17%), the price of oil (per barrel) has come down from US$ 63.75 to US$ 41.31 (down 35%) - and yet Reliance has petitioned MERC with an increase that will end up in us paying almost 30% MORE.
I wonder if our disposable incomes went up as much !!
The MERC Public Hearing on Reliance's Tariff Petition is scheduled for Thursday, March 26th at Rangsharda, Bandra Reclamation at 11am. I trust at least a few of you would file a public response opposing the hike (I will be filing one - and you would like to do that, please email me and I send you a copy of what I file).
For those who can't wait - send an email to mercindia@mercindia.org.in - not that they take cognizance of emails - but still 1,000 emails can make a BIG difference - considering that there are about 28 Lakh consumers of Reliance... and don't forget to mark me a copy!
Go ahead and try this - and do send me your feedback at sandeep.ohri@ymail.com (bouquets and brickbats - both will be accepted humbly).
- Sandeep
(Disclaimer: I have tried to make this calculator as accurate as possible - but please try and understand that this is really complex and hey.. who said everyone was perfect!)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
My presentation at the REL hearing
I have uploaded the presentation file at the Yahoo Bijlee group site, here.
The file is a 2.8 MB pdf file - so be careful before downloading it.
Those of you who are interested in keeping abreast of such issues, may send
an email to bijlee-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you will automatically get
such updates.
The file is a 2.8 MB pdf file - so be careful before downloading it.
Those of you who are interested in keeping abreast of such issues, may send
an email to bijlee-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you will automatically get
such updates.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Response to REL's Petition to MERC
February 11, 2008
The Secretary,
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
13th Floor, Centre No 1, World Trade Center
Cuffe Parade, Mumbai – 400 005
Fax No. : 2216 3976
Dear Sir,
Re: Suggestions / Comments on REL-D's Petition (Case 66 of 2007).
With reference to the above, we have attached our suggestions and comments.
On 13.1.2008, a Public Notice was issued by REL announcing the date of the Public Hearing as 9.2.2008. However, copies of the Petition were not made available to the public, till as late as 24.1.2008.
A news item appeared on 29.1.2008 (see Hindustan Times, Mumbai Ed.) which mentioned that MERC had stated that the all announced Public Hearings were going to be postponed. However, there was no Order available on MERC's website for us to check and verify.
There does seem to be an announcement of a new date for a hearing in the above case, on 14.2.2008. If so, we would like to be heard at the public hearing, even though it has been called for in an illegal manner and the entire conduct of it, goes against the basic tenets of public interest and good governance.
In our opinion, the law on announcement of Public hearings states that a clear three weeks notice must be given. However, no such time has been given – and the conduct of the MERC in this matter has been completely illegal. The MERC has shown scant regard for the existing laws and it has displayed an utter contempt of public/consumer interest.
Since REL has not given any email ID, we are unable to send them a copy. It is suggested that the Hon'ble MERC direct all electricity companies to accept queries by email and publish their email Ids in all public Notices. This practice of physical delivery which inconveniences rhe public MUST stop forthwith. In any case, as per past experience, REL has never provided any satisfactory response and their standard reply is “all the actions are based on directions of the MERC and all details have been submitted to MERC.”
With MERC not being able to rein in such electricity companies, there is no hope for justice to be done.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sandeep N. Ohri
Coordinator-Bijlee
Bombay Small Scale Industries Association
2nd Floor, Madhu Compound, Sonawala Cross Road No. 2,
Goregaon (E), Mumbai – 400065
Mobile: 98 33 09 7575
Email: snohri2004@yahoo.co.in
Read the full submission here : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee/message/1331
The Secretary,
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
13th Floor, Centre No 1, World Trade Center
Cuffe Parade, Mumbai – 400 005
Fax No. : 2216 3976
Dear Sir,
Re: Suggestions / Comments on REL-D's Petition (Case 66 of 2007).
With reference to the above, we have attached our suggestions and comments.
On 13.1.2008, a Public Notice was issued by REL announcing the date of the Public Hearing as 9.2.2008. However, copies of the Petition were not made available to the public, till as late as 24.1.2008.
A news item appeared on 29.1.2008 (see Hindustan Times, Mumbai Ed.) which mentioned that MERC had stated that the all announced Public Hearings were going to be postponed. However, there was no Order available on MERC's website for us to check and verify.
There does seem to be an announcement of a new date for a hearing in the above case, on 14.2.2008. If so, we would like to be heard at the public hearing, even though it has been called for in an illegal manner and the entire conduct of it, goes against the basic tenets of public interest and good governance.
In our opinion, the law on announcement of Public hearings states that a clear three weeks notice must be given. However, no such time has been given – and the conduct of the MERC in this matter has been completely illegal. The MERC has shown scant regard for the existing laws and it has displayed an utter contempt of public/consumer interest.
Since REL has not given any email ID, we are unable to send them a copy. It is suggested that the Hon'ble MERC direct all electricity companies to accept queries by email and publish their email Ids in all public Notices. This practice of physical delivery which inconveniences rhe public MUST stop forthwith. In any case, as per past experience, REL has never provided any satisfactory response and their standard reply is “all the actions are based on directions of the MERC and all details have been submitted to MERC.”
With MERC not being able to rein in such electricity companies, there is no hope for justice to be done.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sandeep N. Ohri
Coordinator-Bijlee
Bombay Small Scale Industries Association
2nd Floor, Madhu Compound, Sonawala Cross Road No. 2,
Goregaon (E), Mumbai – 400065
Mobile: 98 33 09 7575
Email: snohri2004@yahoo.co.in
Read the full submission here : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee/message/1331
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
MERC forced to postpone public hearings
Yup, you read that right !
Today's Hindustan Times (Jan 29, Mumbai ed., page 7) has reported that MERC has postponed the public hearings as the electricity companies had not made available (the printed copies of) their Petition books, to the public, as per dates mentioned in their Public Notices.
In particular REL is a defaulter - the Public Notice was issued on Jan 13th and the books were made available as late as Jan 24th, at some of their offices mentioned in their public notice.
Which means that if MERC has to announce a new date, it has to give another THREE weeks notice - hope they will follow their own laws ;)
Meanwhile, the REL petition has a whole lotta misleading and false data - I think legal action should be taken against them for giving incorrect data under affidavit ...
Watch this space for more ...
Today's Hindustan Times (Jan 29, Mumbai ed., page 7) has reported that MERC has postponed the public hearings as the electricity companies had not made available (the printed copies of) their Petition books, to the public, as per dates mentioned in their Public Notices.
In particular REL is a defaulter - the Public Notice was issued on Jan 13th and the books were made available as late as Jan 24th, at some of their offices mentioned in their public notice.
Which means that if MERC has to announce a new date, it has to give another THREE weeks notice - hope they will follow their own laws ;)
Meanwhile, the REL petition has a whole lotta misleading and false data - I think legal action should be taken against them for giving incorrect data under affidavit ...
Watch this space for more ...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
MERC Public Hearings - Take Action NOW !!!
The consumer-unfriendly MERC has announced a whole series of Public Hearings - just so that you can be charged MORE for electricity, from April 1st.
Your April bills will come in the first week of May and by then it will be "too late" to file any appeal with MERC - 45 day period from date of Order will be over!
It is better to raise your voice NOW.
If you don't know what to do, don't worry - I have made a list of MERC's violations - and illegalities in the conduct of these hearings - and have posted these files at the BIJLEE Yahoo Group site in this message... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee/message/1266
Just make the necessary changes (highlighted in BLUE) and courier it to the respective companies as well as to MERC (MERC address is in the document).
Though MERC does not permit email submissions, you can take a chance and also email it to mercindia@mercindia.org.in - and please mark me a copy at snohri2004@yahoo.co.in so that I will be able to take it up with MERC.
The message also has 2 sample pdf files, of my previous submissions, for your reference - so that you can see what a finished output will look like.
Please send these as soon as possible, as the following are the dates:
Jan 21 - MahaTransco (Last date for filing suggestions was Jan 15)
Feb 4 - MahaGenco (Last date... is Jan 29)
Feb 6 - BEST (Last date ... is Feb 1)
Feb 6 - TPC (Last date .. is Jan 30)
Feb 9 - REL (Last date ... is Feb 04)
Feb 18 - Pune - MahaVitaran (Last date .. is Feb 2)
Feb 21 - CBD Belapur - MahaVitaran (Last date .. is Feb 2)
Take action NOW - or pay higher bills later ...
"For evil to flourish, good people have to do nothing .. and evil shall flourish" - Edmund Burke
Your April bills will come in the first week of May and by then it will be "too late" to file any appeal with MERC - 45 day period from date of Order will be over!
It is better to raise your voice NOW.
If you don't know what to do, don't worry - I have made a list of MERC's violations - and illegalities in the conduct of these hearings - and have posted these files at the BIJLEE Yahoo Group site in this message... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee/message/1266
Just make the necessary changes (highlighted in BLUE) and courier it to the respective companies as well as to MERC (MERC address is in the document).
Though MERC does not permit email submissions, you can take a chance and also email it to mercindia@mercindia.org.in - and please mark me a copy at snohri2004@yahoo.co.in so that I will be able to take it up with MERC.
The message also has 2 sample pdf files, of my previous submissions, for your reference - so that you can see what a finished output will look like.
Please send these as soon as possible, as the following are the dates:
Jan 21 - MahaTransco (Last date for filing suggestions was Jan 15)
Feb 4 - MahaGenco (Last date... is Jan 29)
Feb 6 - BEST (Last date ... is Feb 1)
Feb 6 - TPC (Last date .. is Jan 30)
Feb 9 - REL (Last date ... is Feb 04)
Feb 18 - Pune - MahaVitaran (Last date .. is Feb 2)
Feb 21 - CBD Belapur - MahaVitaran (Last date .. is Feb 2)
Take action NOW - or pay higher bills later ...
"For evil to flourish, good people have to do nothing .. and evil shall flourish" - Edmund Burke
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