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Mumbai hoteliers irked over BEST's 'electricity wheeling charges' for retail consumers
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IANS | 17 Mar, 2023
The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) on Friday raised
objections with the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC)
against the "wheeling charge" levied by the BEST Undertaking Ltd from
all its 10 lakh power consumers.
AHAR President Sukesh
Shetty and Legal Committee Chairman Guruprasad Shetty have said that as
per a latest petition with MERC, the BEST proposes to hike the "wheeling
charges" to Rs 2.26/unit for all consumers.
Accordingly, the
charges would affect all retail consumers who consume just 100 units and
will now have to shell out Rs 226 as wheeling charges to the BEST -
which is illegal and violative of the Electricity Act and also the MERC
regulations, said Guruprasad Shetty.
"Wheeling", as per the
Electricity Act, implies the "operation whereby the distribution system
of a distribution licensee is used by another person for conveyance of
electricity on payment of charge".
The MERC Regulation, 2019, No.
32 defines it as "Distribution Wires Business" meaning the business of
operating and maintaining a distribution system for wheeling of
electricity in the area of supply of a distribution licensee.
Gurunath
Shetty said that BEST - which supplies retail power to the entire south
Mumbai - does not give "open access" to a third party to use its
distribution network for conveyance of electricity, meaning it is not in
the Distribution Wires Business.
He said that the BEST is
charging its consumers under its retail supply business and again the
wheeling charges under the distribution wires business, but this is not
charges anywhere else in India.
Sukesh Shetty urged the MERC that
the amounts collected by BEST as wheeling charges from its consumers in
retail supply business should be maintained in an escrow account.
If
the BEST action on wheeling charges is declared as illegal by MERC or
the appellate authority or the Supreme Court, it can be refunded along
with interest to all the retail consumers, he said.
The
influential AHAR has over 8,000 hotels-restaurants as members in Mumbai
and in adjoining districts and the wheeling charges would hit the
consumers hard in and around Mumbai.
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