Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The Aurangabad Hotels & Restaurants Association has strongly opposed the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (MERC) June 2025 tariff order, calling it “erroneous and discriminatory.” The association has demanded urgent intervention from the Chief Minister to reverse what they call an “unjustified” reclassification of hotels from the industrial to commercial category.
MERC's revised order, issued on June 25, came after MSEDCL’s review petition on the March 2025 Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) decision. Hoteliers argue that the reclassification violates the Government Resolution (GR) dated December 3, 2020, which accorded industry status to hotels, effective from April 1, 2021. Harpreet Singh, President of the Association, said MERC wrongly assumed that the difference in tariffs would be reimbursed under the Maharashtra Tourism Policy 2024. “This policy applies only to new or expanded hotels not to the existing ones,” he said. Secretary Sunil Choudhary highlighted that the GR issued by the state is binding. “Copies were circulated to MERC and MSEDCL in 2020-21. The new order ignores this entirely,” he said. The Association has urged the CM to ensure hotels are categorized under the HT I (Industrial) tariff, and to direct a refund of excess charges collected since April 2021. The hospitality sector, a major contributor to jobs and tourism, must not be penalized by inconsistent policy decisions, the Association stressed.