Electricity bills have tripled in Turkey’s prisons as well

Cartoonist Ahmet Bilge has taken legal action against the 200-lira electricity bill sent to the prison ward where he is held as a convict.

With his drawings occasionally published by bianet, Ahmet Bilge has been behind bars for 27 years. He is currently held in the Elbistan Type E Closed Prison in Maraş. In his latest letter to Bianet, Bilge has written that the electricity bill sent to his ward has almost tripled:

“The electricity bill sent to our room – where we stay as four friends – has tripled compared to the previous month. It was around 80 lira before the price increase. This time, the bill is 200 lira. We told the official in charge that it should not cost so high. The official said that the prison is registered as a business concern and the tariff is set accordingly.

“While they should not be charging prisoners for electricity in the first place, we are now subject to a tariff as a business concern. We, of course, applied to court. If prisoners are deemed as business concerns, we are neither their owners nor operators. We will see what will come out…”

Speaking to Bianet, lawyer Ayşegül Çağatay has indicated that prisons are in the capacity of public institutions, but prisoners are regarded as customers in spite of this; even though basic needs such as water and electricity are supposed to be met, they are offered to prisoners for a fee and some prisoners are not even given plates; chairs and desks are also sold to them.

Regarding the objections, Çağatay has said that as there is no counter registered in the name of the prisoner, she or he may apply to the administration and write a petition to be sent to the related institution.

As of 2022, a graded tariff has been introduced in Turkey. The consumption of up to 150 kilowatt hour started to be calculated based on a 50-percent- and consumption higher than this started to be calculated based on a 127-percent increased tariff. Since early February, this limit has been increased from 150 to 220 kilowatt hour. Starting from March 1, the Value Added Tax (VAT) levied on electricity use in households and agricultural irrigation has been reduced from 18 to 8 percent. The law tariff limit in households has also been increased to 8 kilowatt hour daily and to 240 kilowatt hour monthly.