Barely a year after giving discounted tariff to the Byrnihat industries Association (BIA), a group of industrial units in Byrnihat, Ri Bhoi District, now the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL) has decided to revoke it because the BIA could not draw power as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 7.10.2020.
The decision to revoke the discounted tariff was intimated to the BIA vide letter dated 26 October, 2021.
The letter addressed to the BIA secretary from director of MePDCL said that the corporation had decided to invoke Clause 7 of the MoU for termination of the agreement, which was signed on 7.10.2020.
It further said that this letter should be treated as an advance notice for ending the MoU giving the BIA concessional tariff.
Clause 7 says that the BIA members will have to maintain the minimum load factor of 68 per cent and if this is not maintained to the agreement can be revoked and invalidated. This brought consequential revenue loss to the MePDCL which is the reason for the termination.
When the MoU was signed in 2020, the heavy discounted tariff given to the BIA by MePDCL had raised a huge controversy as it was said to be detrimental to the financially struggling state electricity company.
That controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed under the aegis of the then MeECL chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Arunkumar Kembhavi.
