Reprieve: No power tariff hike for Chandigarh consumers in 2020-21
There will also be no recovery of fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) from all consumer categories starting April 1, 2020, till its further orders
In a major relief to more than 2 lakh power consumers in Chandigarh, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has decided there will be no hike in electricity tariff for 2020-21 fiscal. The charges for electric vehicle charging at designated outlets have also been reduced.
Responding to the tariff revision petition of the UT electricity department, the JERC in an order on Tuesday said, “No increase has been made in the retail tariff for existing categories due to standalone revenue surplus in financial year 2020-21.”
Giving another relief to the residents, the JERC has directed the UT to stop recovery of the fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) from all consumer categories starting April 1, 2020, till its further orders. The FPPCA charges are imposed on user on quarterly basis, and are in addition to the tariff imposed in the bill. The directions have been issued on account of revenue surplus in 2020-21. The department, however, has been directed to submit the quarterly FPPCA calculation to the JERC for review.
In order to promote the use of electric vehicles (EV), the JERC has introduced a single-part tariff for EV charging stations, wherein the demand/fixed charges have been removed and the energy charges have been reduced from ₹4 per kilowatt hour (Kwh) to ₹3.80 per Kwh.
The new tariff will be applicable from June 1 and will remain valid till further orders from the JERC.
JERC approved tariff
The last increase in the domestic and commercial electricity tariff was in 2018-2019.
In the domestic category, the approved rate is ₹2.75 in the slab of 0-150 units, ₹4.80 in the slab of 151-400 unit. In the slab of above 400 units, the rate is ₹5.20 per unit.
In the commercial consumer category, there is no change in the rate of ₹5 in the slab between 0-150 units, in slab of 151-400, the rate is ₹5.30 per unit. In above 400 slab, it is ₹5.60 per unit.
FIXED CHARGES TO CONTINUE
The JERC has turned down the demand for removing fixed charges component of the electricity bill.
In the wake of the losses incurred due to the two-month lockdown period, the commercial units in the city were demanding removal of the fixed charges.
The fixed charges are being charged separately, over and above the consumption charges. These charges range from ₹30/kW/month to ₹200/kW/month.
The JERC, announcing its decision, stated, “The electricity department has to incur expenditure towards the capacity charges of power purchase and operation and maintenance, which are fixed in contrast to the energy charges which are payable for purchase of energy per unit. These expenses have to be recovered from the consumers and this is done by having a two-part tariff. Thus, the recovery of these expenses from the tariff is also levied on two-part tariff basis.”