Power gets costlier in Haryana; FSA raised by 5 paise per unit

Power consumers in Haryana will have to shell out more as state-owned power utility Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) raised the Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA) by 5 paise per unit with effect from July 1.
"The FSA has been raised by 5 paise per unit on overall tariff," DHBVN Managing Director Arun Verma said today.
The FSA will be effective for the quarter starting July till September.
FSA is part of the cost which is recovered from consumers on account of increase in coal or fuel prices.
Meanwhile, opposition Congress has flayed the decision of the DHBVN to impose a hike of 5 paise per unit in FSA, describing it as an "unwanted tax" imposed on the people of Haryana and demanded its immediate rollback.

In a statement issued here today, Kiran Choudhry, Leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP), said the hike, the fourth in the last ten months, would hit the common man hard, have a cascading effect on the cost of production and result in across-the-board price rise.

The roll-back can be made possible if the state government takes steps to check power theft, cut down line losses, and inject a dose of efficiency in the working of discoms, the former Excise and Taxation Minister said.
She said this is the fourth hike made in FSA in the past 10 months on the directives of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC).

With 17 paise hike in December 2014, 60 paise hike in March 2015, 37 paise hike in April and now 5 paise hike, electricity has become costlier by Rs 1.19 per unit, the Congress MLA pointed out.
In May, the tariff for non-domestic consumers had been hiked by about 8.5 per cent. Now, another 5 paise per unit hike in FSA will put extra burden on the common man, Choudhry said, adding that all this ran counter to the BJP promise of "Achhe Din".