People living in the high-rises across Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad were feeling relieved following the state govt's order to builders to provide multipoint power connections, replacing single-point but what they failed to realise is the additional financial burden which needs to be borne by them now!
Consumers, who had already paid a huge amount to the developers to get the connection at the time of possession, will be forced to pay again in the form of infrastructure cost besides fifteen thousand rupees for separate meter connection.
Though the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) is yet to decide the infrastructure fee for individual societies, the corporation has made it clear the developer will have to bear the entire cost. Ghaziabad News
“Entire cost of such modification or change in the network system shall be borne by the (developer) and in turn you can recover this cost from the individual allottee / owner in proportion to the contracted load allotted to each individual owner,” a notification issued by the Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) to the builders read.
Residents are miffed because the developers charge between Rs 10,000 and 20,000 for per KW connection as the cost varies for each individual society. At present, the consumers in Gautam Buddh Nagar pay Rs 6.10 per unit with an additional 11 per cent regulatory charge and 5 per cent as fix charge to the builders. Residents feel there will be a hike in the maintenance charge as well which is at present Rs 2.25 per sq feet in almost every society.
When City Spidey sought a reply on why residents would be paying again if they had already paid for the same facility, a NPCL official said, “This is the policy framed by the state govt and not by us, so it has to be followed.”
Sanjeev Saxena, a resident of Eco-village 2 in Greater Noida West, said, “Two years back, I had paid Rs 22,000 apart from 11 per cent as regulatory charge for per KW which cost me more than 80,000. Now, I have to pay around Rs 25,000-30,000 as infrastructure cost and Rs 15,000 for meter connection. What about them who took the possession of their flats recently? Will the developer adjust paid amount? It is going to be another issue of conflict between the residents and the builder for sure.”
“We are forced to pay this due to the corrupt system of UPPCL. So far, we were harassed by the builder and now the power corporation is harassing us. They are supposed to change the single point connection into multipoint by March 31, 2019. The officials have not done anything yet and therefore to hide their failure, they have come up with this policy,” said Joginder Singh, a resident of Amrapali Zodiac.
It is important to note the power corporation would be responsible for its distribution whereas the builder or Apartment Owners Association (AOA) would be responsible for maintaining the system within the society.
For the uninitiated, there would be a slab system for power bills. Those who would consume electricity up to 150 units will have to pay Rs 4.90 with additional 11 pc regulatory charge per unit, Rs 5.40 for the reading between 151-300 units, Rs 6.40 for the reading between 301-500 units whereas those who will be consuming above 500 units, will have to pay Rs 6.50 per unit.
