'Collect from Congress': Karnataka villagers' refuse to pay electricity bill; video goes viral

Among the five 'guarantees' that the Congress party announced is the offer of 200 units of power a month to every household.

Chitradurga: A video of a group of villagers in this district on Monday allegedly refusing to pay their electricity bill citing the pre-poll promise of the Congress to give 200 units for free has gone viral. 

Among the five 'guarantees' that the party announced is the offer of 200 units of power a month to every household.

During campaigning for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress repeatedly said it would give a stamp of approval for these 'guarantees' in the maiden cabinet meeting on the first day of its assuming power in the State.

"We won't pay," a villager was heard telling electricity bill collector Gopi in the purported video where people are seen sitting on a platform under a peepal tree.

The bill collector then tells them, "You have to pay the bill this month. Let's see what the government says," to which the villagers respond, "What can the government say?"

Gopi tells them if the government says it will give free power, then the electricity department will follow suit.

"We will not pay. They (Congress) have said electricity is free, it will be free only," another villager replies. To this, the bill collector says if the government order comes then electricity will be made free. 

"You collect from them (Congress), not us. We will not pay the bill," the villager says and asks others sitting there not to pay either.

Karnataka will now experience increased electricity costs as the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) approved a rate increase of 70 paise per unit to close the revenue gap. In Karnataka, electricity costs have jumped four times in the last two years.

According to a press release from KERC, the commission has approved an overall Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) of Rs 58,109.95 crore as opposed to the Rs 62,133.47 crore requested by the Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMs) in their tariff proposals. The increased fees will take effect on April 1, 2023.

(Inputs from PTI)