Despite the strong protest against the power tariff in the Capital, the Delhi electricity Regulatory Commission on Friday hiked the rates by 1.5 per cent to adjust the power purchase cost of the distribution companies.
The DERC has fixed 4.5 per cent fuel surcharge for BSES Yamuna Power ltd and BSES Rajdhani Power ltd while for Tata Power Delhi Distribution ltd the surcharge will be three per cent.
The hike in tariff will be 1.5 per cent for consumers of all the three distribution companies as the surcharge for BYPl and BRPl was three per cent in the previous quarter while it was 1.5 per cent for TPDDl.
“The surcharge for BRPl and BYPl consumers have been increased from 3 per cent to 4.5 per cent. So the hike for them is 1.5 per cent. For TPDDl consumers it has been increased to 3 per cent from 1.5 per cent,” said DERC Secretary Jayashree Raghuraman. The hike will come into retrospective effect from May 1.
In their petition, the BYPl had sought a hike of 9.13 per cent while BRPl sought an increase of 9.2 per cent to adjust the rise in power purchase cost. The TPDDl had sought a hike of 1.71 per cent. Raghuraman said the hike will be applicable on energy charges and fixed charges. The increased will be valid for three months till the power tariff in the Capital is revised.
On Friday, The Pioneer has reported that power tariff in the national Capital is set to get another hike by June-end. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has indicated that the existing tariff might be increased in order to reduce the financial deficit of over Rs7,000 crore.
DERC chairman PD Sudhakar had told The Pioneer that the tariff revision would be announced towards June-end, public hearing for which is likely to start later this month.
Notwithstanding the demands from political circle to slash the existing power tariff, he said it was practically impossible to reduce the electricity charges and said that the commission was in the process of assessing the petitions of the private discoms who have demanded an average increase of 15 per cent in the power tariff.