MSMEs seek time to pay additional fixed deposits for electricity consumption

Members of the Federation of Coimbatore Industrial Associations submitting a memorandum to the Executive Engineer of Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation, Coimbatore division, on Thursday. | Photo Credit: S. SIVA SARAVANAN Members of the Federation of Coimbatore Industrial Associations (FOCIA) submitted a memorandum to officials of the Tamilnadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited on Thursday (August 27), demanding time to pay the additional fixed deposit amount raised by the Corporation.They said in the memorandum that some of the MSME units have got notice from the TNPDCL demanding additional fixed deposit running to lakhs of rupees. If they pay it online, they have to remit the entire amount. If they pay in cash at the counter, they can pay in three instalments.“We have sought time to pay the amount in 12 instalments, and this should be available for online payments as well,” said M. Raveendran, president of the Coimbatore Compressor Industries Association.The TNPDCL is collecting the additional fixed deposit after eight years and has given the consumers just 30 days time, said the federation in the memorandum.“We raised another long-pending issue too. For micro units that have load less than 12 KW, the power consumption charges were collected under LT 3B. The industry associations fought against this, and the government issued an order in 2023 saying these units should be levied current consumption charges under LT 3A 1. However, the TNPDCL is not implementing this order, saying every individual MSME unit should apply for tariff change. We have urged the TNPDCL to change the tariff slab for all MSME units that have less than 12 KW connected load,” said J. James, president of the Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Entreprises. Published - August 27, 2026 07:49 pm IST