All India Electricity Consumers Association Working President Samar Sinha and other delegates at the South Zone Electricity Consumers Convention at Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru on Sunday. | Photo credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
Consumer groups from the southern region rallied on Sunday to oppose what they called the Centre’s growing push to privatize the power sector and introduce smart meters and “time of day” (ToD) tariffs, where the price of a unit of electricity varies according to the time it is used) across India.
Organized by the All India Electricity Consumers’ Association (AIECA), the South Zone Electricity Consumer Convention at Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru attracted over 500 delegates, including engineers, consumer representatives and activists from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. Held under the banner “Stop Privatization of Electricity and Installation of Smart Meters”, the event was part of AIECA’s nationwide movement to defend electricity as a public utility, not a profit-making commodity.
AIECA President Swapan Ghosh said more than 50% of the country’s electricity generation is now in private hands, a significant increase since the liberalization era in the 1990s and exacerbated by subsequent amendments to the Electricity Act. Mr Ghosh said privatization had transformed electricity from a social utility to a profit-driven market commodity.
Former IAS officer and social activist MG Devasahayam warned that the current policy imposes “cost-reflective tariffs” that remove cross-subsidies for farmers and households. He said smart meters are being used as a coercive tool to justify tariff hikes, while the centre’s push to sell stakes in utilities to private companies is turning a public good into a private one.
Samar Sinha, working president of AIECA, said the amendment to the Electricity Act 2025 was designed to benefit utilities by forcing states to fund all subsidies from their own budgets, thus closing the chapter on consumer relief. “Distribution in all Union Territories, except Andaman and Nicobar, has already been handed over to private firms,” he said, calling for a sustained all-India united movement.
The convention passed a resolution demanding that the government halt the privatization of the power sector, stop the installation of smart meters, withdraw the Time of Day (ToD) tariff and roll back the 36paise per unit surcharge and increase in fixed charges in Karnataka.
Smart meters and prepaid systems would allow for dynamic pricing that would only benefit capitalists, AIECA Vice President K. Somashekar said, describing ongoing privatization as backdoor policy changes through administrative orders that threaten public accountability in the power sector.
The convention also accused political parties across the spectrum of enabling corporate control of energy resources. Electricity is a necessity, not a tradable commodity, and the government has no right to take it away from people, the speakers said.
Published – 26 Oct 2025 19:57 IST
