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MERC appointed me as a Consumer Rep!!

Guess what?? MERC, unilaterally, appointed me as an Authorised Consumer Representative u/s 94(3) of the Electricity Act, 2003 - in a Case filed by RINFRA.

With the leadership of the new Chairman - the consumers are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Already, in Mumbai, we have a CHOICE now - we can opt for Tata Power instead of RINFRA, BEST or MSEDCL.

Maybe this model will pave the way for the rest of the country also - and switching between electricity providers will become as easy as switching between telecom providers.

Happy Independence Day!!

Twitter: sandeepohri
Email: sandeep.ohri@ymail.com
Blog: http://snohri.blogspot.com
Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee

Posted in Mumbai Life.

13 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – August 15, 2009


Watch me on The RKB Show, Lemon TV

Yep .. watch me here on The RKB Show on Lemon TV


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVOyKIl6P8A&feature=channel

Comments??

Twitter: sandeepohri
Email: sandeep.ohri@ymail.com
Blog: http://snohri.blogspot.com
Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee

Posted in Mumbai Life.

7 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – July 3, 2009


DO-THE-SWITCH

Fed up with Reliance’s Tariff??

Just DO-THE-SWITCH

SWITCH from Reliance Infra (or REL, whatever) to Tata Power.

For more details see Tata Power”s website.

At the new Tariff rates today…

For 100 units:
A Tata Consumer will pay Rs. 205
A BEST Consumer will pay Rs. 261
A RInfra Consumer will pay Rs. 391

For 300 units:
A Tata Consumer will pay Rs. 885
A BEST Consumer will pay Rs. 1,165
A RInfra Consumer will pay Rs. 1,712

RInfra’s rate is approx 90% higher than Tata and approx 50% higher than BEST!

Also, if you compare how much your RInfra bill has gone up over the years.

For 100 units, in R-Infra area:
In Sep 2006, you paid Rs. 205
In Jun 2008, you paid Rs. 290
Now we will pay, Rs. 391

It’s gone up 90% in 3 years and 35% in 1 year!!

You can decide for yourself, if you want to continue paying such rates to Reliance - or switch to Tata.

Let’s be practical here - taking out morchas to Reliance’s office will
NOT help. They will simply pass the onus on to MERC - who is
responsible for approving these rates. We must hold MERC accountable,
R-Infra is after all a private company - out to make profits, so why
should they not take advantage of the system.

As it is said, “awareness precedes choice”, and when you are at the
Choice Point you WILL make a choice - even between action and inaction.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Tata CAN supply electricity to anyone in Mumbai, even a single individual!

So go ahead DO-THE-SWITCH .. apply to Tata and exercise your right!

———————–

Check out the this comparison between the new Residential tariff rates
of Reliance, Tata and BEST. The detailed xls file is available on the Bijlee Yahoo Group in the Files section. (Scroll down till you reach “Electricity_Tariff_June2009.xls”).

Input your unit consumption in the first worksheet (’SUMMARY’) and see
how much more we are paying to Reliance, as compared to Tata or BEST.
Also, you can see how your Reliance Bill has been increasing over the
last 3 years.

Twitter: sandeepohri
Email: sandeep.ohri@ymail.com
Blog: http://snohri.blogspot.com
Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee

Posted in Mumbai Life.

6 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – June 22, 2009


Meet me on Facebook :)

To be honest, I find it very difficult to write longer blogposts. But it seems easier to just ‘update’ one’s status on Facebook.

Those of you interested in staying in touch - please send me a message on Facebook, so I’ll know you have come in from rediffiland.

My email ID is sandeep.ohri@ymail.com

Thanks..


Posted in Miscellany.

2 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – May 31, 2009


My presentation at MERC’s Tariff hearing

Check out this video - its my presentation at MERC’s public hearing on Rel Infra’s Tariff petition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9E-KdDQ7l0

Though the audio quality is a little low - I hope this encourages more people to make such representations.

More details on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee


Posted in Mumbai Life.

1 comment

By Sandeep Ohri – May 4, 2009


Post 30 Apr .. NEXT IS WHAT ??

Ever since 26/11, we have seen a surge in the number of Groups. Online
groups at Facebook, Yahoo, Orkut and Offline Groups, like JNM
(incidentally, who are doing great work). ‘Offline’ .. strange, how we
refer to the real world as ‘offline,’ as if our real lives are no
longer ONLINE!



Anyway, the real issue is (as Samsung asks) NEXT IS WHAT??



We saw a huge surge in patriotism and candle-burning and midnight
vigils and promises of meeting every 26th at Gateway … and now??

It’s been 4 months since 26/11.

> Have the Police reforms issue moved even one step forward?

> Has the security improved?

> Have the threats gone away?

> Has justice been done to the city?



For crying out loud, everyone seems to have forgotten the poor souls who lost their lives!



I see the same pattern here. I receive 40-50 emails everyday informing
me about how important it is to vote, go vote, find out about your
candidate, find about his/her assets, know his/her criminal record,
vote for the best independent candidate, etc., etc. - ad infinitum ..
ad nauseum…



There is a new found ‘patriotism’ and we have many more ‘independent’
candidates in the fray. People from all walks of life, ordinary people
(’one of us’), rich people, educated people, first-timers, young people
.. all have jumped in.



And you know what I fear? These candidates will ‘divide’ the already
fragmented educated, internet-savvy, gen-next votes!! I would have
really liked to see the main parties back THESE new candidates - THAT
would have made all the difference!



On the other hand, now what’s going to happen is that the new wave
voters are going to vote for these (numerous) independents, and further
divide the votes. The winners are STILL going to be from one of the
MAIN frontline parties.



Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that Dr. Mona Shah or Indur
Chuggani and their ilk, are really going to win. God Bless them for
their efforts - it’s not easy - and, personally, I will be voting for
an educated independent candidate myself!



What we need to happen - is to get the main parties to support
candidates like Dr. Shah and Mr. Chuggani. It is THEN that we will see
the CHANGE. Getting Mr. Adolf D’Souza into the Corporation is one story
and getting someone into the Parliament is another!



In any case, what happens AFTER our beloved, chosen, educated,
independent and most-worthy, candidate .. LOSES .. and we get the same
crappy bunch of jokers once again?? That is when our real resolve will
be tested.



I’m speaking from my own experience of the fight on the BIJLEE
(electricity) issue. There was a huge hue-and-cry and massive din in
Sept/Oct 2006 .. and the public hearing took place and then the Order
was passed and people resolve themselves to the fact that ‘nothing can
be done’ and get back to their lives. But, the key is in pursuing the
issue, even when public awareness has died down. For instance, there
are still a handful of us who have kept going hammer-and-tongs at the
MERC, since 2006… and that’s making a difference, even though it’s a
small difference.



I suggest a three-prong, long term approach to this issue.



1. We MUST vote - there are no two ways about it. If we do not vote, we have no right to complain.



2. We must EDUCATE the masses - its their vote that actually decides
who gets into the parliament and drafts the laws that govern our
children’s lives. It is THEY who are the gullible, misled ones who the
Politicians divide on the basis of caste, creed, religion, economy and
whatever else!



3. While we are doing the first 2, we must continue to keep the
bureaucrats and administrators in check. These ‘babus’ in the
government offices are there to smoothly run the administration
services and not to ‘rule’ over us. RTI is an effective way of doing
that. Having received a reply, we must ensure that there is a
systematic way of disseminating that (incriminating) information
amongst all. And when I say all I mean the masses as well.



There is a fourth one - regarding the FOURTH estate - but I am assuming that they will rise to the
challenge and ensure fairness by giving all citizen’s issues fair
mileage.



Would love to hear from all of you …

sandeep.ohri@ymail.com


Posted in Current Affairs.

74 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – April 11, 2009


Invitation to BIJLEE

This is for those who are interested in knowing what’s happening on the Electricity Tariff hike issue.

You may join the Yahoo Group on BIJLEE (electricity) here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bijlee

It’s an open Group - no restrictions - as long as posts are related to electricity and related consumers’ issues (like Tariff, Connections, Complaints, Public Hearings, Legal Advice, etc.)

Thanks.

Sandeep.
sandeep.ohri@ymail.com




Posted in Mumbai Life.

2 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – March 28, 2009


Public Response in Reliance Tariff hike


The response that I will be submitting to Reliance is attached here and here

Go through it so that you may understand the issues we are dealing with. I am not a legal expert and the legal fraternity may excuse my attempt at this :)

Anyway, I have attempted to include all the issues that would affect Residential consumers.

The procedure is thus:
1. Fill in your name, postal address tel/mobile and email ID (before you take prints). Details need to be filled on Page 1, Page 2 and Page 19.

2. Before Thurs, March 19th, make sure one copy is delivered to:
Mr. Ramesh Shenoy, Company Secretary
Reliance Infrastructure Limited
Reliance Energy Centre
Santa Cruz (E)
Mumbai 400055

You would need to show proof of service so make 2 copies and get one stamped / acknowledged by their office - or retain Fax/courier slip (in which case you may need to do it at least one day earlier). There is no email provided for Reliance - so that makes it a little  more difficult for us! However, I tried sending it to ramesh.shenoy@relianceada.com.

3. Make 6 copies of the submission (actually make 7, you will need one for yourself!)
and attach the fax/courier/stamped page on all 6 copies and then send it before Thurs Mar 19th, to:
The Secretary
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
13th Floor, Centre No. 1, World Trade Centre
Cuffe Parade
Mumbai 400005
Fax: 2216 3976
email: mercindia@mercindia.org.in

To see what really happens, come for the Public Hearing on Thurs Mar 26th at Rangsharda Natya Mandir, Bandra Reclamation, Bandra (W). The hearing starts at 11am.

Let’s try and ensure we get justice done !

- Sandeep.


Posted in Mumbai Life.

7 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – March 15, 2009


Reliance’s Proposed Tariff Hike in Mumbai


I have been going through the Reliance Tariff petition and was trying to find out the increase in electricity charges, since Sep 2006 (the past 30 months). I was surprised with the results and decided to prepare a ‘calculator’ for Reliance customers to realize how much theirtariff has gone up in the past 30 months.

I’ve uploaded the file here on the Bijlee Yahoogroup and you can sign in to access it (scroll down the list to reach the file “Revised_Reliance_Tariff_Calculator.xls).

All you need to do is input your consumption in the yellow box on the first sheet - and the data will appear as to how much you would have paid at various intervals during this time frame. The dates taken are based on the various tariff orders issued by MERC.

I have included the figure of what would happen, if Reliance’s current proposal is approved.

Just to give you a few examples:

1. If your consumption is 100 units - in Sep 2006 you would have paid Rs. 205.29, and (if  Reliance’s proposal is approved) from Apr 2009, you would be paying Rs. 418.76 - a  whopping 104% up in 30 months - and average of almost 42% per year (or 3.5% per month)

2. If your consumption is 400 units - in Sep 2006 you would have paid Rs. 1,577.15, and (if Reliance’s proposal is approved) from Apr 2009, you would be paying Rs. 2,923.84 - an increase of 85% in 30 months - and average of approx 34% per year (or nearly 2.9% per month).

Just to put this in perspective, the official Inflation Index for India for FY 2006-07 was 519 and for FY 2008-09 it is 582, which means that as per the Govt. the actual inflation has been around 12% (582/519) for this period.

Also, from Sep 2006 till date, central excise duty has come down from 14% to 8% (down 43%), service tax has come down from 12.36% to 10.3% (down 17%), the price of oil (per barrel) has come down from US$ 63.75 to US$ 41.31 (down 35%) - and yet Reliance has petitioned MERC with an increase that will end up in us paying almost 30% MORE.

I wonder if our disposable incomes went up as much !!

The MERC Public Hearing on Reliance’s Tariff Petition is scheduled for Thursday, March 26th at Rangsharda, Bandra Reclamation at 11am.

I trust at least a few of you would file a public response opposing the hike (I will be filing one - and you would like to do that, please email me and I send you a copy of what I file).

For those who can’t wait - send an email to mercindia@mercindia.org.in - not that they take cognizance of emails - but still 1,000 emails can make a BIG difference - considering that there are about 28 Lakh consumers of Reliance… and don’t forget to mark me a copy!

Go ahead and try this - and do send me your feedback at sandeep.ohri@ymail.com (bouquets and brickbats - both will be accepted humbly).

- Sandeep

(Disclaimer: I have tried to make this calculator as accurate as possible - but please try and understand that this is really complex and hey.. who said everyone was perfect!)

Posted in Mumbai Life.

3 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – March 14, 2009


Trans Fat - and other ‘Nutrients’

Just read an article this morning about how some Oils / Vanaspatis meet (or rather, don’t meet) the laid down norms…
Was just thinking .. shouldn’t these companies be publishing all such data on their website also?

Think
about it .. why should a consumer need to only read the product label
to find this out - or why should Research organizations carry out
(selective?) tests on some (select?) brands…

(originally posted at http://sandeepohri.blogspot.com)


Posted in Daily Life.

11 comments

By Sandeep Ohri – February 5, 2009