Roll back power tariff hike, H D Kumaraswamy tells govt

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, on Thursday, advised the government against hiking power tariffs, urging it to put off the decision by a year.

“People are facing severe economic hardships following the Covid-19 pandemic. All sectors are facing losses. People are left worried without jobs and salaries. It is better to postpone the hike,” the former CM said in a tweet.

Hiking tariffs from 20 paise to 50 paise per unit and 40 paise on average will burden the people, Kumaraswamy said, urging the government to roll back its decision.

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission announced a revision of power tariffs on Wednesday. As a result, there will be an average of 5.49% increase in power bills from November. Though the revised tariff was supposed to be introduced from April this year, it was delayed due to various factors.