Chhattisgarh govt hikes power tariff by 6.19 per cent for all consumers

After a gap of three years, the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (CSERC) has announced an average hike in the power tariff by 6.19 per cent for all consumers for 2021-22, an official said on Tuesday.

The main opposition BJP has accused the ruling Congress of doing "injustice" to the people of the state by increasing power tariff amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

An average hike of 37 paise (6.19 per cent) per unit in power tariff over the previous rates has been made across all consumer categories, CSERC secretary S P Shukla said.

The new tariffs, which were released on Monday, have been made effective from August 1, and the rate has been adjusted in such a way that it meets the revenue requirement and ensures that no category is subjected to a tariff shock, he said.

Power services in Chhattisgarh are managed by five state-run companies for holding, generation, transmission, distribution and trading.

"In 2018-19 and 2019-20, the commission had reduced the prevailing tariff to grant relief to consumers. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the power tariffs were not increased in 2020-21,'' Shukla told PTI.

Now, since the state is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 situation, the commission felt the need to revise the tariff structure, as the accumulated revenue gaps (of state power companies) will otherwise keep increasing along with associated carrying cost, which will further burden the consumers at a later date, he said.

The average cost of supply for Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited has been approved at Rs 6.41 per unit as against Rs 5.93 per unit in the last fiscal, the official said.

In case of domestic consumers for the consumption slab below 100 units per month, the tariff has been increased from the existing Rs 3.40 to Rs 3.60 per unit, it was stated.

Apart from this, for consumption units of 101 to 200, the power tariff has been hiked from Rs 3.60 to Rs 3.80 per unit, the official release stated.

Similarly, hikes have been made in other slabs of power consumption in domestic and other categories.

The commission has also increased the load limit for single-phase connection from 3 kilowatt to 5 kilowatt. The fixed charge, which was earlier levied up on consumption, will now be charged on contacted load and telescopic basis, the release said.

In order to incentivise an environmentally friendly transport system, tariffs for electric vehicle charging units will continue to be Rs 5 per unit as before, it was stated. According to the release, in a bid to expand telecommunication connectivity in Naxal-affected areas, the 50 per cent rebate on power surcharge on mobile towers to be installed after April 1, 2019, will be continued.

The discount in power surcharge to medical establishments in tribal and rural areas has been increased from 5 per cent to 7 per cent, while domestic consumers will continue to get the benefit of the state government's half rebate in the electricity bill scheme, the release stated.

Slamming the ruling Congress for the hike, Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik said, "The state government has betrayed the people of the state. A hike in power tariff will burden people, who are already bearing the brunt of COVID-19. The state government has been doing injustice to people.'' PTI TKP ARU ARU

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)