Andhra Pradesh Election Commission stops power tariff hike

Hyderabad: The State Election Commission on Friday restrained the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission from passing a revised electricity tariff order. APERC sought consent from SEC whether to pass the tariff from April 1.

The SEC directed APERC to maintain status-quo and not to pass the Retail Supply Tariff Order 2014-15 as long as the Model Code of Conduct will be in force till mid-April, in connection with the ongoing elections to municipal bodies and MPTCs/ZPTCs.

The SEC had notified the municipal elections on March 3, MPTC elections on March 4 and ZPTC elections on March 10. The entire poll process will be over by mid-April. Officials said that the commission had received complaints from certain quarters that the APERC was going to pass the revised tariff order soon, during the period when the Model Code of Conduct for local body elections was in force.