In another power shock to State’s rural residents, the Punjab Government has announced 2 per cent
hike in the ad-valorem (tariff) duty on electricity making the power expensive by 0.25 per cent per unit.
With the hike, the rural consumers are expected to face an additional burden of Rs 150 crore, while the State Government is estimating that its total electricity duty collection would increase by Rs 1,125 crore.
As per the notification issued by the Government on Friday, the increased in the electricity duty — applicable only in the State’s rural areas affecting the consumers under all categories — has been made from 13 to 15 per cent. The notification says that the hike would be applicable with retrospective effect from April 1, 2018.
The hike comes two months after the State power regulator — Punjab State Electricity regulatory commission (PSERC) — had announced a tariff order announcing a hike of the electricity tariff by 2.17 per cent for all categories of consumers.
That is the second hike after the Congress Government took over in March 2017 when PSERC had announced a hike of whopping 9.33 per cent in October 2017 which was imposed from a retrospective effect from April 1, 2017.
Under the Congress Government, the power rates have gone up by 17 to 20 per cent in just over a one year rule of the Congress party.
As per the tariff order, released in April 2018, the power rates for the domestic consumers were increased from 12 paise to 14 paise per unit, while for the non-industrial and commercial consumers, the tariff has been increased by two paise to five paise.
A senior Government official informed The Pioneer that the additional duty on power consumers will be retained by the State power utility — Punjab State Power Corporation limited (PSPCl) — to help it fund the massive power subsidy bill.
The State Government’s total power subsidy to the industry, farmers, backward classes, scheduled castes, among others, for the year 2018-19 is estimated to be Rs 13,718.02 crore. The amount includes Rs 4,768.65 crore as the balance subsidy payable for the previous years, while Rs 8,949.37 crore are for the current fiscal including Rs 6,256.09 crore for farming sector, and Rs 1,440.95 crore for the industry among others.