A public forum in Vijayawada has urged the State government to not approve the proposed amendments to the Bill. It pointed out that the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill-2025 aims at privatisation of DISCOMS which in turn would increase the burden on consumers.
The Central government has asked all States to send their suggestions and comments to the Bill. With regard to this, members of Vidyuth Vinuyogadarula Aikya Vedika (Forum of Electricity Consumers) have written to Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand and also to Central Ministers highlighting their concerns.
Addressing the media in Vijayawada on Thursday (November 06, 2025), the members said that the proposals for amendments to Sections 14 and 42 of the Electricity Act of 2003 are aimed at privatising the distribution systems. M.V. Anjaneyulu, a member of the forum, said that according to the proposed amendment, in a given area, two or more persons may be granted licence for distribution of electricity.
Since each company cannot lay separate power lines, transformers, or substations, the existing license holders, mostly State-owned power distribution companieswould have to share their infrastructure with new private licensees. This means publicly funded infrastructure, built with thousands of crores of public money, would be handed over to private companies, Mr. Anjaneyulu said.
Elected governments are trustees of the public assets. But, instead, their proposals aim at handing over the public sector distribution network to private companies, the members pointed out.
The forum also opposed the amendment that aims to abolish cross-subsidies, which they feared would lead to a steep rise in electricity tariffs for common people.
The forum appealed to both ruling and opposition parties in the State to oppose the Bill and highlight the potential losses to the people.
Published – November 06, 2025 08:17 pm IST
