In a major relief to the power consumers in Uttar Pradesh, power regulator UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has rejected the demand of UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) to hike the power tariff for the current fiscal 2020-21.
The power regulator, in its order on Wednesday, said that there would be no hike in power tariff and rejected the annual revenue requirement report seeking a hike in power tariff that was filed by UP Power Corporation Limited and its five wholly owned subsidiaries.
The UP State Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad said the UPERC decision was a win for the consumers. Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad’s president Awadhesh Kumar Verma said in a statement that their petition demanding return of Rs 13,337 crore along with interest to the consumers was the main reason for the decision by the power regulator.
Earlier, political parties, particularly Congress and Samajwadi Party, had criticised the UP government for trying to hike the power tariff. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and SP president Akhilesh Yadav had termed the BJP government as anti-people for proposing hike in power tariff.
The state government at that time had claimed that the UPPCL had sought rationalisation of the tariff from the power regulator with the aim of reducing the monthly consumption of consumers using more power than the others.
The UPERC has also reduced the RCDC fee on smart meters to be paid by the consumers to just Rs 50 against the earlier fee of Rs 600.
The smart meter RCDC fee will be Rs 50 up to 4 KVA and Rs 100 from 5 KVA and above.
The power regulator rejected power distribution companies’ plea of revenue gap of Rs 4,500 crore while admitting that the consumers should be refunded Rs 800 crores.
The UPERC headed by its Chairman RP Singh and having KK Sharma and VK Srivastava as members gave their ruling on Wednesday after hearing all the parties concerned on the annual revenue requirement (ARR) of the power distribution companies for 2020-21.
The UPERC also reduced the claim of the power companies of 17.90 per cent line loss to 11.54 per cent. It also approved the ARR of Rs 65,175 crore against the demand of Rs 70,792 for 2020-21 and thus now Rs 800 crore excess of the consumers would be with the power companies. Meanwhile, the State Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad would move a petition before the UPERC for reduction of power tariff after Diwali festival.