Power consumers of almost all categories will now have to pay more for every unit of electricity they consume. The Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Authority (JSERC) has approved new rates, which would come into force from April 1.
As per the approved tariff, domestic consumers in rural areas would be charged Rs 5.75 per unit, while their urban counterparts would have to pay Rs 6.25 for every unit of power they consume. Consumers in rural areas are presently paying Rs 4.40 per unit under Kutir Jyoti and Rs 4.75 for other rural categories while urban connection holders are being charged at Rs 5.50 per unit.
However, the regulatory authority has not altered with the fixed charges which remain at Rs 20 and Rs 75 per month for rural and urban consumers respectively.
Also, no changes in the tariff have been approved for irrigation and agriculture users who would be paying Rs 5/kWh.
At the same time industrial consumers can also feel easy as high tension industrial supply would take place at the rate of Rs 5.50/kVAh which was Rs 5.75/kVAh earlier. Though, their fixed charges have gone up from existing Rs 300/kVA/month to Rs 350/kVA/month.
Defending the hike done especially for the domestic users which proved over and above the tariff proposed by the Jharkhand Bijli Vitaran Nigam Limited (JBVNL), Chairman of the JSERC Arvind Prasad termed it rational.
“Power purchase constitutes about 70-80 per cent of the total cost. The Commission is of the view that tariff should be decided based on the cost incurred by the discom on distributing every unit. We have calculated the cost as Rs 6.32 per unit and fixed the tariff accordingly. They had proposed Rs 6 per unit for domestic consumers across the board which we have declined and segregated rural and urban consumers by fixing Rs 5.75 and Rs 6.25, respectively,” said the Chairman on Thursday informing about the approval of new power tariff.
He further added that the JBVNL’s revenue requirement for 2019-20 is going to be in the tune of Rs 7164 crore, which is 17 per cent more than the previous year. “The company had demanded Rs 8,375 as revenue. The revenue has to be arranged to ensure better performance and quality power supply in future. We have tried to keep tariff closer to the cost coming barring agriculture users where it is about 19 per cent lower than the actual cost,” added the Chairman. Revenue gap of the company has been calculated at Rs 692.70 crore as per the existing rate.
When asked about burden coming on the consumers, especially in rural areas, Arvind Prasad put the ball in Government’s court. “Last year the subsidy requirement was estimated to be Rs 1,040 crore but actually about Rs 700 crore was availed. This year subsidy of Rs 2000 crore can be given to insulate the consumers from the hike done. It is now for the Government to take a call,” he replied.
The Commission for the first time has come up with ‘power index’ that would be based on the hours of power supplied to the consumers in a day. The JBVNL would be releasing the index in every three months on its website. If the discom is found supplying power less than 20 hours a day it has to lose certain amount from the fixed charges as penalty. This apart, consumers of 5 kWA capacity need not take another connection for running cottage industries or smaller commercial activities.
Direction to complete the metering exercise all over the State by June this year has also been given to the JBVNL. Also the JSERC has provided fillip to solar rooftop by approving rate of Rs 4.16 per unit for gross metering and Rs 3.80 per unit for net metering producers. An App would also be launched for the common people where power theft can be reported.