Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
All India Electricity Consumers’ Association opposes privatization of power sector
Babusahi Bureau
Chandigarh, March 6, 2025: The All India Electricity Consumers’ Association (AIECA) announced its strong opposition to the privatization of the power sector, forcing the installation of smart meters across the country in a national convention held on Wednesday in Delhi.
The convention was attended by more than 900 consumers who came to Delhi from different states across the country.
The national convention was chaired by Swapan Ghosh, President AICEA. Shailendra Dubey Chairman All India power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) , Samar Sinha President All India power Mens Federation, Ashok Rao Patron AIPEF , Bimal Das Advisor AACEA, A K Jain and other national leaders spoke on the occasion, informed V K Gupta.
Dubey in his inaugural address said that the privatization of electricity is a failed experiment and this was started in Delhi in 2002 even after 22 years of privatisation no review has been done by the government on the benefits and losses of so-called reforms.
The privatization of electricity in Delhi, Mumbai, and Uttar Pradesh has led to continuous and unjustified hikes in electricity tariffs.
The Chandigarh electricity department has been handed over to the private sector despite strong opposition by employees and consumers. The installation of smart meters in states will render thousands of employees in meter reading and billing without jobs.
The biggest stakeholders in electricity privatisation are consumers and employees and both of them have been sidelined by the government.
Ashok Rao said that as per a World Bank report the privatisation of the power sector does not improve the performance of power distribution companies.On smart meter installation he urged the central government that audits should be done on the government spending and gains made by it.
A K Jain said that smart meters are already installed for industry and smart meters for domestic consumers will increase tariffs and deteriorate the financial health of Discoms.
Venugopal general secretary AIECA said that it was decided to observe protest week in the first week of April to make consumers aware about the disastrous effect of privatisation of power and installation of prepaid meters. In June memorandums will be submitted to the central energy minister through the state governors.
Further AICEA will support the June 26 strike of electricity employees against the privatisation process in Uttar Pradesh ,Rajasthan and other states across the country.
The various other speakers said that electricity, an essential public service, is being systematically handed over to profit-driven private enterprises. This shift, they claim, has led to unjustified tariff hikes.
This will transform electricity from a public utility into a highly profitable commodity for corporate gain. They also condemned the stringent measures taken by several state governments, including the forced disconnection of electricity in homes with old meters to facilitate the installation of smart meters.