Relief likely for IT, fisheries, rural shops in new power tariff order
UPERC plans power tariff relief for IT, fisheries, and rural shops, reclassifying IT as an industry and applying domestic rates to village shops.
The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) is likely to provide relief to multiple sectors, including information technology (IT), fisheries and rural domestic, in the new power tariff for the current financial year which is set to be announced next week, people in the know of things said.
The state government has already conferred the status of an industry on the IT sector through a Cabinet decision here on October 1 and the power relief for it is likely to be reflected in the new rate schedule for 2024-25.
“Currently, the IT sector falls under the HV 1 tariff category applicable to commercial entities and private institutions. Now, with the classification of it as an industry, the IT sector is all set to be put under the HV 2 category applicable to industries,” a UPERC official said.
“The HV 2 tariff is slightly lower than the HV 1 tariff and it will help the IT in line with the government’s policy to promote this crucial sector in the state,” he added.
Similarly, the commission may eliminate the commercial tariff for shops operated by villagers from their homes, opting instead for the domestic tariff to prevent harassment of rural shop owners.
Currently, villagers are charged a commercial tariff for a separate power connection for their shops, which results in higher costs. If they use their domestic connection for the shop, they face heavy penalties for violating tariff regulations.
“To end such harassment, the commission is considering applying the domestic tariff to shops operated from houses in villages,” the official said.
Despite the Cabinet decision by the then Samajwadi Party (SP) government headed by Akhilesh Yadav in 2014, equating the fisheries sector with agriculture, non-issuance of follow-up orders by the departments like the energy, the revenue and the irrigation, has kept fishermen deprived of the perks enjoyed by their agricultural counterparts. Among these benefits is also the lower power tariff that fishermen are deprived of.
Fishermen owing a private tubewell for releasing water in fishponds have to pay the electricity tariff at commercial rate unlike farmers for whom electricity is free in U.P. There are around 500-600 private tube wells owned by fishermen in the state.
The commission is reportedly considering classifying fisheries alongside agriculture to ensure that fishermen pay the same electricity rate for their tube wells as farmers.