DISCOMs notify govt on revising power tariff

Hyderabad: A new political controversy seems to be on the cards from Friday as the DISCOMs have filed ARR (Annual Revenue Requirement) requesting the TSERC (Electricity Regulatory Commission) to enhance the fixed rates for domestic power consumers above 300 units and increase power charges for all HT power consumers.

If the proposals are accepted, domestic power consumers, who consume above 300 units will have to pay higher tariff. However, 80 per cent of the domestic consumers in the state who consume up to 299 units will not be affected by the fixed rate burden. In the ARR for the current financial year (2024-25), the DISCOMs have proposed to revise the charges in all three categories. If the recommendations are approved by the ERC, the DISCOMS estimate that they will get an additional income of Rs 1,200 crore to cover the deficit.

The BRS is gearing up for opposing this move claiming that during its ten-year rule it had never increased the power tariff more than once.

The Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TGSPDCL) and the Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TGNPDCL) have estimated a deficit of Rs 14,222 crore between their income and expenditure this year.

The DISCOMs requested the government to provide Rs 13,022 crore through the budget for supplying free power to agriculture and 200 units of power for poor electricity consumers. The power utilities said that they have given proposals for the revision of charges to cover the remaining shortfall of Rs 1,200 crore.

The Energy department officials said that a fixed charge of Rs 10 per kilowatt is charged if the electricity used by households exceeds 300 units per month. The DISCOMs had requested the ERC to allow it to raise it to Rs 50. More than 1.30 crore houses in the state have electricity connections and 80 per cent of them were using less than 300 units. The increase in fixed charges will not be a burden on most people.

At present, the industry which has taken power connection with the capacity of 11 KV is charged at the rate of Rs 7.65 per unit. 33 KV connection is charged at the rate of Rs 7.15 and 132 KV at the rate of Rs 6.65. The DISCOMs requested to be allowed to charge only Rs 7.65 per unit from all categories of industries. They also demanded to increase the fixed charge of Rs 475 per kilowatt to Rs 500 from the industries.