Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I) has called for a state-wide band on June 22, 2023 to protest against high price hike in electricity rates. The Karnataka Industry body in a statement said it had made many attempts to convey the impact of high electricity charges in the last eight days, but all of these were in vain.
The KCC&I has asked all the members to participate in the strike in order to send a message to the Siddaramaiah-led government. The body in a statement said, "We request all the Trade and Industry to close their establishment on 22nd June. This is in protest of abnormal price hike in the Electricity charges by ESCOM's"
KCC&I further added that it has decided to call for a state-wide strike in order to draw attention of the government inorder to find a solution and get reduction in the electricity charges.
In the statement the body said, "District Chambers of Gadag, Bijapur, Ranebennur, Raichur, Talikoti, Vijayanagar, Mysore, Davangere, Koppal, Bagalkoti, Dharwad, Sirsi, Karwar, Bidar, Shimoga, Kolar, Mandya, Chikmagalur, Yadgir, Chitradurga, KalyanKarnataka, Haveri, Hassan, Bellar and other Industry Associations have agreed to join the agitation."
Electricity price shot up by Rs 2.89 per unit
There was a shot up in the electricity prices after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) approved electricity supply companies' proposals. In June, a hike of 70 paise per unit was levied in accordance to a tariff order on May 12. In addition the arrears of 70 paise per unit pertaining to April were also added to the bills in June.
Consequently, the fuel and power purchase price agreement charge of Rs 1.49 per unit was also added in June, whereas Rs 1.81 per unit is carried forward to July. In the end an overall hike in tariff for June was at Rs 2.89 per unit.
Siddaramaiah says decision not taken by government
Commenting on the decision of the electricity price hike, Siddaramaiah, Karnataka CM said that this decision was not taken by his government but by the KERC. He said, "We did not decide to hike the electricity tariff. There is Karnataka electricity regulatory authority, which has decided. It had been decided in the past. We have only implemented it."
