Domestic consumers in Uttarakhand to pay more for power, industries less
The existing tariff ₹4.01 for the domestic consumer will be ₹4.04 per unit from April. Fixed monthly charges have also been increased between ₹5 – ₹25 on power bills
Domestic consumers in Uttarakhand will have to shed more money after Uttarakhand Electric Regulatory Commission (UERC) slightly increased tariff that will be applicable from the coming fiscal.
The existing tariff ₹4.01 for the domestic consumer will be ₹4.04 per unit from April. Fixed monthly charges have also been increased between ₹5 – ₹25 on power bills.
For domestic consumers the tariff will be decided on the basis of four slabs – 0-100 units, 101-200 units, 201-300 units and 301 – 400 units and above.
There are nearly 15 lakh consumers having domestic connections. UERC officials said half of them within 100 units in a billing cycle.
UERC chairperson Subhash Kumar, while releasing the new tariff order here on Wednesday, said no change has been made in the tariff for the consumer falling in 1st and 2nd slab. A slight increase has been made in the 3rd slab.
“There is no change in tariff for BPL and also for those consumers living in snow bound areas,” he told HT.
However, there has been increase in the fixed monthly charges on the domestic bills. For consumers falling in 100 units category, the increase in fixed charges is ₹5 while this is ₹10 for consumers falling in 200 units slab and ₹25 for consumers falling in 300 units slab.
The chairman said this was the second time after 2002-03 when the commission has decreased the tariffs for various categories.
According to the tariff order, the industries will have to pay at least 3% less from the earlier tariff slabs. Similarly, the tariff for railways have been slashed by 2.50%
“We have been able to bring the tariff down by not approving unnecessary expenses proposed by UPCL and Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd,” told Kumar to HT.
He claimed that Uttarakhand was the only state providing cheapest power to the consumers.
The commission approved ₹4,932 crore to UPCL against its proposal of ₹5,161 crore incurred in buying expenses from the various sources.
Between, the industry has welcomed the UERC decision to maintain tariffs.
Anil Taneja, regional director PHDCII, said industries were already getting expensive power and UERC order to keep the same tariffs is a sort of relief.