APERC to hold virtual public hearing on Nov 1 again

Guntur: Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) will hold virtual public hearing on collection of true-up charges of Rs 3,669 crore on November 1, from its office in Hyderabad to know the opinion of people on true-up charges.

Following writ petitions filed in the High Court, the commission took the matter suo motu and put on hold the collection of the true-up charges. The commission conducted a virtual public hearing on October 19 from its office in Hyderabad city. However, it could not complete the virtual hearing due to various problems. Some of the consumers demanded the commission to conduct offline meeting and give sufficient time to explain their views.

Though some of the consumers wanted to explain their views, they did not get the opportunity. Taking this into consideration, the APERC decided to conduct the virtual public hearing again on November 1. After the completion of virtual public hearing, the commission is expected to announce its decision on collection of true-up charges, which will take some more time.

At present, The Central Power Distribution Company, Eastern Power Distribution Company and Southern Power Distribution Company are collecting the true-up charges for the last two months from the consumers. According to the official sources in the discoms, they will collect the true up charges till they get orders from the APREC.

The Central Power Distribution Company chairman-cum-managing director J Padma Janardhana Reddy said, "The APERC will hold a virtual public hearing on November 1. We will follow the orders of the APERC. If the APERC directs us to stop collection of true-up charges, the amount collected will be adjusted in the future payments. So far, we did not get any orders of the APERC."

Consumers pinned their hopes on APERC and expecting that the commission will withdraw the true up charges.