UPSERC hikes power tariff by 5.47 per cent across categories

Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPSERC) today increased power tariff for all categories of consumers in the state by 5.47 per cent.
A hike of 5.04 per cent has been effected in residential connections from 3.74 per kilo watt hour (KWh) to Rs 3.92 per KWh, while no hike has been made for rural domestic consumers, UPSERC said in a statement.
It said that a hike of 5.04 per cent has been made for industries from Rs 7.07 to Rs 7.42 per KWh.
A hike of 11.97 per cent from Rs 6.69 to Rs 7.49 per KWh has been effected for state tube-wells, medium and large pump canals.

The SERC has made a hike of 5.16 per cent for commercial connections from Rs 7.06 to Rs 7.43 and 2.73 per cent for private tube-wells and pumpsets for irrigation purpose in urban areas from Rs 1.47 to Rs 1.51 per KWh.
It has also decided to abolish the One Time Settlement scheme.

To encourage the consumers to get metered connection, the commission has directed the licensees that the cost of meter may be borne initially by them which shall be adjusted in the bill within six months time and this scheme would be applicable only for unmetered consumers who install meters by March 31, 2016.

To incentivize consumers, a rebate of 0.25 per cent has been approved by the commission for making the payments on or before due date.
It has linked the number of hours of electricity supplied by the licensee with the tariff of the consumers. If a particular group of consumers gets additional supply hours then they may be charged certain incremental charges.
However, Chairman of UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, Avadhesh Verma alleged that the hike was much higher than being projected by the SERC.
"Earlier, urban domestic BPL consumers, who are limited to 150 units and one kilowatt load, were required to pay Rs 2 per unit up to 50 units and after that Rs 2.85 per unit was charged for next 100 units," he said.

While per unit charge up to 50 units has been maintained, BPL consumers would now be required to pay at the rate of Rs 3.9 per unit for next 100 units resulting in a hike of approximately 25 per cent, Verma said, adding that similar was the case with urban domestic consumers.
"The consumers, who were till now paying at the rate of Rs 4 per unit up to 150 units would now be required to pay at the rate of Rs 4.4 per unit," he said.
Verma claimed that in addition to this around 1.9 per cent regulatory surcharge has also been imposed on all categories of consumers.