These Noida sectors refuse to pay higher electricity charges
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These Noida sectors refuse to pay higher electricity charges

Residents of sectors 74, 76, 77 and 78 say overcharging of power bills is just one of the issues.

These Noida sectors refuse to pay higher electricity charges

Residents of high-rise societies in sectors 74, 76, 77 and 78 of Noida have a lot to complain about. They say builders of these sectors are charging higher electricity tariffs than what the government has fixed and that they are deducting common area maintenance (CAM) charges from prepaid electricity meters.

They recently started a social media campaign demanding that the prepaid meters be removed altogether, since, despite UPPCL guidelines, CAM charges were still being deducted from their meters.

Residents say that the government rate for electricity is Rs 5.62 per unit, but that builders are charging more from them.

Dhananjay Kumar, a resident of Grand Ajnara Heritage, in Sector 74, told City Spidey that the developer was charging them Rs 5.9 per unit. He also said that the minimum monthly charge for electricity had been raised from the government-fixed Rs 81 to anywhere between Rs 86 and Rs 91.

Many residents also said that there was no uniformity in the charges for new connections.

Pavitra Das, a resident of Assotech Windsor Court, in Sector 78, also complained that there were loose, open wiring in the meter boxes installed by the builder. “There is frequent sparking in summer due to overloading and bad upkeep. This has often led to burnt cables and power failures through the night,” he said. “We are not able to run our ACs on this old transformer, and frequent voltage drops and power fluctuations have damaged several household appliances.”

He added that another problem was the old 50 KVA transformer the builder had set up — and on top of that he was forcing residents to pay charges of Rs 90 per KW, in addition to other taxes.

Residents of this area also alleged that the builder was charging them on the basis of KVA (kilo volt ampere) and not on KWA (kilo watt ampere), as is the UPPCL rule.

When City Spidey contacted JK Gupta, chief executive engineer of UPPCL, he said that it was clearly mentioned in UPPCL guidelines that only electricity charges would be deducted from prepaid electricity meters and not CAM charges. “A developer cannot disconnect a resident’s electricity if he or she has not paid their CAM charges. Those two are to be kept separate,” he said.

He also said that he had not received any complaints from residents about builders overcharging in electricity bills, but if he did, he would take action against the involved builders.