Digital Goa, June 11 – Residents of Anjuna staged a protest at the office of the Chief Engineer of the Electricity Department, alleging that they had received unusually high electricity bills and demanding immediate intervention from the government. During discussions with the protesters, department officials reportedly explained that the increased bills were due to penalties imposed on consumers whose electricity consumption exceeded their sanctioned load. Officials advised residents to apply for an enhancement of their sanctioned load to avoid such charges in future. Claiming that the latest bills were several times higher than their regular monthly bills, the protesters said they would submit representations to the Power Minister and CM seeking relief. They also argued that similar issues could surface across the state and urged the government to undertake a public awareness campaign on sanctioned load requirements. The residents further demanded that consumers be granted a three-to-four-month rebate period to regularise their sanctioned load without being subjected to steep penalties. They also alleged that the hike was implemented to corner consumers into accepting smart meters. Adding a symbolic touch to the agitation, the villagers organised a “pej andolan”, serving rice gruel to those participating in the protest.
