Home / Economy / June 20- June 26, 2026 / EXPENSIVE SHOCK!
EXPENSIVE SHOCK!
No Comments on EXPENSIVE SHOCK!

EXPENSIVE SHOCK!

Economy, June 20- June 26, 2026 June 19, 2026 , by

Though the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant claims that he has directed the Electricity Department not to impose penalty for consumptrion of power beyond the contracted amount, the Electricity Department continuous to demand full payment of the bill including the penalty. The government also claims to have put smart meters on hold…

POWER bills are sending powerful shocks in every home in Goa. On an average the power bill has doubled from an average of Rs800 to Rs1,000 to over Rs2,000 in the last few months. This is because the Electricity Department under the direction of Power Minister Sudin Dhavlikar is penalizing you for using power in excess of the sanctioned load. The joke is that most residents of Goa are not even aware that there is something called the sanctioned load. Apparently, when you or the builder of the society sought a power connection 20 or 30 or 50 years ago the Electricity Department fixed the sanctioned load. Which meant the power you could consume over a 30-day period. The original sanction load was fixed at a nominal three or four kilowatts per residence. For larger homes the sanction load is an average of 5 to 10 kilowatts. In theory, every residence is expected to seek a revision of the sanctioned load.
 Unlike industrial and commercial customers who enter into a contract for a certain amount of power every month of every year, the domestic consumer was totally oblivious that there was a sanctioned load. In any case the domestic consumer is billed on the basis of how much power is actually consumed. Which is fair enough as if you consume more power it is logical that you pay more. Over the last 30 or 40 years since the original load was fixed you have moved on. You have with increasing prosperity installed airconditioners and geysers. Maybe you have acquired a washing machine if not a a dishwasher also. In the last three months the government of India and the government of Goa has been asking you to shift to induction stoves based on electricity to save on expensive imported LPG. The government has also been asking you to switch to electric cars and scooters. There are regular advertisements on television channels which show uses of E scooters charging their battaries at domestic plug points. All this is understandably increased the quantity of power that is consumed. May be you are not consuming ten to 20 times the sanctioned load.
But the catch is that even if you are consuming more power you are paying for it. Your electricity bills are based on power you actually consume in the previous month. Which is why every flat in every building has a separate electric meter. At present the staff of the Electricity Department checks your meter every month and you are billed accordingly. Surreptitiously, without any public notice, Sudhin Dhavalikar has been imposing penalty on the power consumed over the sanctioned limits. This means you are not only paying for the power you actually consume but also the penalty for exceeding the sanctioned limit that you were not aware of. Which is why the bills have been jumping up every month since Sudhin Dhavalikar started savagely shocking you. What Sudhin Davalikar is doing is immoral if not illegal. The citizens is being penalized doubly. The average household pays for the power actually consumed. In addition they are forced to pay a penalty.
 In theory you are supposed to get your authorized sanction increased when your consumption goes up. You can have your sanctioned load increased but that too comes at a price. This is because the cost of power is linked to the quantity consumed. The rate at which you are supplied power increases exponentially with the quantity you consume. Old-fashioned housewives have always been conscious about saving power. They make it a point not only to put off the power when not needed and also educate their children to do so. Power is a finite resource. There is an additional problem in Goa. Goa does not produce any power on its own. It is entirely dependent on the Maharashtra and Karnataka power grid. These power grids and the sources of power also charge according to the quantity of power consumed. Power consumption peaks during summer when air-conditioners are used around the clock. It peaked during he last three months hen consumer switched to electric stoves due to the shortage of gas. Which implies that Goa’s power consumption rose steeply and with that the price at which Goa purchased power also increased. Clearly, the Electricity Department cannot sell power at rates lower than it bought it. But power is an essential utility. No government should profit at the expense of the consumer. This is why Arvind Kejriwal banned private power distributors like Reliance in the national capital New Delhi.


There is a related issue. The state government has decided that everyone should switch to smart meters. The smart meters will monitor power consumption on a real time basis. So much so you cannot claim that you are being charged for excess power consumption. The problem is all smart projects are implemented in a dumb way. Understandably Goans are panicking that the smart meters will be like the Panjim smart projects. The people of Goa do not want smart meters. In fact, the former power minister Digambar Kamat has joined the citizens revolt. He has asked consumers not to pay the penalty. Digambar has pointed out that installing smart meters is optional. Digambar has asked Goans not to accept smart meters.
The underpinning is a political war. Sudhin Dhavalikar wants to embarrass the chief minister Pramod Sawant in the run up to the elections. Not surprisingly the chief minister has backed down. The penalties have been frozen. The penalties already paid will be adjusted against earlier inflated bills. And no smart meters will be imposed on anyone.

Related posts:

  1. GOA AT A CROSROADS: Governance, Deficits & Disconnection!By Dr Olav & Deborah Albuquerque
  2. INDIA’S GULF RELIEF MOMENT!By Arvind Pinto

Search

Back to Top