Rs 168-crore due from power consumers

PUDUCHERRY: Even as the government is reeling under a financial crunch, `168.5 crore arrears is due from non-collected power tariffs across various categories of consumers in the Union Territory.Recently the electricity department which had been purchasing and distributing power to consumers levied an incremental power surcharge on all categories of consumers at the rate of `34.25 Paise per unit for four months, except those under one hut and one bulb scheme and agriculture, to pay up the cost of power purchase.  Through this the government has planned to mobilise `46.40 crore. However, the surcharge  is unfortunate for consumers who have been paying their dues.As per information obtained from sources in the electricity department, on Monday, the dues pending as arrears are:  `18.54 crore in the commercial category, `24.13 crore in the domestic category, `13.48 crores in the low tension industries category and `7.52 crore in the farm category. The total amount is `63.66 crore.The government and local bodies have a due of `46.87 crore that includes: `15.37 crore from government departments, `28.15 crore from streetlight dues and `3.35 crore from building lights.High tension industries dues are `57.95 crore which includes `2.9 crore  from the government departments, while that from government-owned companies is `32.07 crore and HT claim cases is `84.22 lakh. A sum of `12.31 crore is pending in court cases, while `3.78 crore is due under the Revenue Recovery Act. The HT dues from others is `5.6 crore.Moreover, the beneficiaries under one hut one bulb scheme are consuming more free power than allotted under the scheme by using  television, grinders, fridge and other gadgets. The electricity department has planned to install meters to monitor the power consumption by the beneficiaries and to charge for the excess usage, said K Mathivanan, Superintending Engineer heading the department.