A large section of domestic consumers in Delhi was spared from shelling out more money for electricity despite the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) increasing the electricity rates by up to 15.71 per cent on Thursday as it offered a relief to the consumers by withdrawing the quarterly power purchase adjustment cost (PPAC) of 6 to 8 per cent. Over 80 per cent of domestic consumers who consume up to 800 units of electricity, instead, have been benefited by the move as they will have to pay no additional charge despite the hike. The revised tariff came into effect from Thursday itself.
It is for the first time in four years, the domestic consumers have witnessed a reduction in their power bills. As per the new tariff, the households who consume up to 400 units will find their electricity bills reduced by up to 5.73 per cent.
According to DERC, the monthly bill for consumption of 200 units in BSES Rajdhani area will come down to `907 from existing `935 after implementation of the new rates. Similarly, for consumption of 400 units, the monthly bill will come down to `2,192 from `2,257. For consumption of 800 units a month, the bill will be `5,346 from existing `5,358.
As per the new tariff slab, energy charges have increased from `3.90 per unit to `4 per unit for those consuming up to 200 units under the three power distribution companies, BSES Yamuna Power limited (BYPl), BSES Rajdhani Power limited (BRPl), and Tata Power Delhi Distribution limited (TPDDl). For those consuming between 201 and 400 units, the rates have been hiked from `5.80 to `5.95 per unit.
The New Delhi Municipal Council, which is a discom in its area, witnessed the steepest tariff hike for domestic consumers (up to 9.5 per cent).This is because the DERC has introduced the 8 per cent surcharge even for consumers under the NDMC, which was never imposed earlier.
Despite the hike in energy charges, those consuming up to 400 units of power will be the biggest beneficiaries of the new order. For BYPl consumers, who consume up to 200 units, their bills would see a reduction of 3 per cent whereas those who consume between 201 and 400 units will have to pay 2.8 per cent less. For BRPl consumers, the same will be decreased by 4.62 and 4.5 per cent respectively. TPDDl consumers with power consumption between 201 and 400 units will be the biggest beneficiaries as their bills are set to decline by 5.73 per cent.
For domestic consumption beyond 800 units a month in areas served by the discoms, the hike has been fixed at 15 per cent. The decision on this was taken in order to promote energy consumption among city dwellers. DERC chairman, PD Sudhakar said, “We have merged the PPAC for this quarter in the new order itself. So there shall be extra charge through PPAC in the coming month. After PPAC adjustment, the hike will be around 7 per cent for those consuming beyond 800 units.”
Besides, the power regulator also introduced a new slab of 800-1,200 units, and those consuming power in this category will have to pay Rs 8.10 per unit against the current Rs 7. The per unit rate beyond 1,200 units has been fixed at Rs 8.75. The rates for commercial categories, including DMRC and malls will go up by 11 per cent. The rate for DMRC has been fixed at Rs 6.10 per unit against existing Rs 5.50. The rate for supplying power to Delhi International Airport Authority has been fixed at Rs 7.90 against existing Rs 7.10 per unit. For railways, the rate has been fixed at Rs 6.80 per unit as against the existing Rs 6.10.