Chandigarh proposes power tariff hike of up to 24 pc

Power consumers here may have to pay more as Chandigarh Electricity Department has sought a hike of up to 24 per cent in power tariff for 2014-15 even as the department projected a revenue gap of Rs 106.98 crore for next fiscal.
In an Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) filed with Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), the electricity department has proposed to levy monthly fixed charges on domestic consumers, besides power tariff hike.
As per proposal, power tariff has been proposed to be hiked by up to 20 per cent for domestic consumers. Department has proposed Rs 2.78 per unit (0-150 units), Rs 4.60 (150-400 units) and Rs 4.95 (more than 450 units) as against existing rate of Rs 2.30, Rs 4.20 and Rs 4.40 per unit, respectively.

In addition to it, fixed charges to the tune of Rs 20 and Rs 50 per month has also been proposed for consumers consuming more than 150 units per month.
For commercial sector, the department has proposed to raise power rates by up to 24 per cent.
The Department has proposed power rate of Rs 5.75 per unit for large supply with an increase of 22 per cent. For medium and small supply, power rate has been proposed at Rs 5.60 and Rs 5.25 per unit with a hike of 24 and 19 per cent, respectively.

For agriculture sector, the power rate has been proposed Rs 2.78 per unit with an increase of 21 per cent.

In addition to it, the fixed charges for commercial sector consuming 0-150 units has been proposed to be raised by 400 per cent at Rs 30 per month. For rest of sectors except small supply, fixed charges would be raised by 43 per cent to Rs 100 per month.
Against the revenue of Rs 647.49 crore at existing tariff, the department has projected new ARR of Rs 754.47 crore for 2014-15, leaving revenue gap of Rs 106.98 crore. The cumulative revenue gap has been projected at Rs 156 crore for 2014-15.