Punjab announces power tariff rollback

Succumbing to the pressure of its alliance partner BJP in Punjab, the ruling SAD-BJP alliance today decided to set off the enhanced portion of power tariff in the domestic, the commercial and the industrial sectors in the state, according to an official press release here today. It is worth mentioning that the 12.42 per cent hike levied on domestic, commercial and industrial consumers with effect from April 1, 2009, had become a bone of contention in the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, with the BJP demanding withdrawal of the proposed hike.

The withdrawal of increased tariff would put a burden of Rs 1,300.08 crore for 2009-10 on the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), as the hike was aimed to cover the consolidated revenue gap. With the announcement, the government has given one year relief to domestic consumers and six months to commercial and industrial sectors.

Further, the adjustment would be made in bills with effect from April 1, 2010 this year. The decision would apply to enhancement announced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) in September 2009. According to the announcement, the outstanding bills for the domestic sector would be reimbursed through this adjustment for the complete one year (March 31, 2009 to April 1, 2010), the relief to the commercial and industrial sectors in this form would be for six months of the revised tariff.

Earlier, in September 2009, the commission had decided to increase the tariff of domestic supply consumers with consumption of 100 units, commercial consumers by 42 paise per unit and that of agriculture sector by 45 paise per unit, being the highest subsidised category. The tariff for other consumer categories including industry and for all categories was increased by 9.51 per cent. It is worth noting that the state has total 6.6 million electricity consumers including domestic, industrial and commercial consumers.