'Batti gul' to protest power tariff hike

Restaurants shutting down lights will also help save electricity

Batti gul campaign called as a mark of protest by hotels and restaurants in the city may actually help in reducing the unwarranted use of electricity, especially at a time when the state is reeling under severe power shortage.

The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), 8,000-strong member association, had called for switching off their exterior lights on Monday and Thursday evenings. This was to mark their protest against the exorbitant rates charged by the various electricity utilities, the highest being charged by Reliance Infrastructure formerly known as Reliance Energy Limited (REL).

Anxious about the 15% to 25% hike in tariff for commercial consumers, restaurant owners were debating if they should pass the impact of hiked bills on to consumers.
“We will absorb the new tariff for the next two months by when we plan to explore all legal modalities (like approaching the regulatory commission) to get it rectified. But if we fail, we will be compelled to transfer the impact on to consumers,” said Chandrahas Shetty, president of AHAR.

“There has been a steep rise in the rates of all three utilities, including BEST and MSEDCL. But we are severely affected by the hike imposed by REL’s tariff,” he said.

When DNA checked  two restaurants opposite Worli Seaface, it was found that barring the neon sign boards on the restaurants, the remaining lights continued to glow all through the night.

Talking about the grim situation in the state, a senior official of MSEDCL said, “We have appointed franchisee for three areas - Thane, Navi Mumbai and Pune - to meet the day-to-day requirements of these consumers. But on Monday we could manage to procure only 1.3 million units as against the requirement of 7.6 million units of all the three areas taken together.”

But he welcomed the restaurateurs’ decision to continue with their batti gul campaign. “It will help us save power and use it where required.”