Agartala, January 13 (TIWN): “40 percent of consumers are not paying the electricity bill”, said the CMD of Tripura State Electricity Corporation (TSCEL), Shyamal Kumar Roy. While addressing a press meet Shyamal Kumar Roy had informed that a large number of the consumers hide themselves from paying the electricity bill and among them 1300 belongs to the Government offices and institutions. Apart from that 30 percent are using illegal hook lines which were cut off after coming in the notice of the TSCEL, CMD mentioned.

Discarding the comment of the OTPC CMD, a few days ago that OTPC had supply the power to the State at the rate of 2 rupees 40 paise, Roy said that it is not the final rate, just a provisional rate only. The final rate chart will be prepared after the full commercial generation from OTPC –II unit which will be prepared by Central Electricity Regulatory commission.

Giving brief details of the utilization of the power, CMD illustrates that the Corporation is providing Rs 30 lakh by to the staffs as salary and due to which the corporation is facing a loss of 30 percent per month, CMD added. Mentioning the amount of consumers and electricity consumed, Roy sketched a detailed chart which is:

Replying to the question on the action taken against the default bill payers, Roy told that in some cases strict actions are taken resulting in the cut off the line. But the problems of the hook lines are getting worse day by day, it is becoming tougher for the corporation to take every possible step, he admitted.

Talking on the generation of Palatana, CMD informed that some frequent shut down and trip at Palatana causes difficulty for the corporation to manage uninterrupted power supply. To tackle the situation the State had to purchase power at high rates also.