Chennai sources have stated that Chief Minister Jayalalitha’s poll promise of providing 100 units of electricity free for all domestic consumers have raised hopes among the people when she assumed charge in May, but their hopes have been dashed.
Meanwhile a senior official of TANGEDCO has said the implementation of the scheme had burdened the State exchequer with an additional Rs. 1,607 crore, as 1.35 crore domestic consumers out of 1.90 crore consumers would not be paying any electricity charges.
The residents in the city believed that the free 100 units would be subtracted from the total units used before arriving at the charge payable in some instances, thus enabling one to slip below the 500 units’ threshold. At present, consumers using above 500 units are paying a maximum of Rs. 6.60 per unit while those in the bottom of the pile at 100 units, pay only Rs. 2 a unit.
However, officials of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) placed the free units in the lowest slab, allowing a concession of Rs. 200 for those using between 201 units and 500 units and a maximum benefit of Rs. 350 for those using more than 500 units.
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