Chandigarh admn proposes 10% hike in power tariff

The power tariff will come into effect in Chandigarh from April 1, subject to Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission’s nod

Hoping to generate ₹926 crore, the UT administration has proposed a 10.25% hike in power tariff for the financial year 2023-24.

As per the UT, there are nearly 2.38 lakh power consumers, including 2.04 lakh domestic and 28,521 non-domestic consumers, in Chandigarh. (HT File)

The UT electricity department has requested the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) to approve the revised tariff, which will be applicable from April 1.

As per the UT, there are nearly 2.38 lakh power consumers, including 2.04 lakh domestic and 28,521 non-domestic consumers, in the city.

In a petition filed before JERC, the UT engineering department submitted that to avoid tariff shock to the consumers, an average increase of 10.25% in existing retail tariff has been proposed to meet the net revenue gap requirement for 2023-24.

The department submitted that the revision in the existing retail supply tariff has been proposed based on the provisions of tariff design specified in the National Tariff Policy, 2016, and net revenue requirement proposed for 2023-24. The department submitted that the proposed tariff revision would be able to commensurate the much-needed revenue requirement for the ensuing year.

In the domestic category, the department has proposed an increase of 25p in the slabs of 0-150 units and 151-400 units. (HT File)

The commission will be inviting objections from residents, which are to be sent to secy.jercuts@gov.in and date of public hearing has been fixed for March 17 at 10.30 am at the auditorium of Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10-C, Chandigarh.

In the domestic category, the department has proposed an increase of 25p in the slabs of 0-150 units and 151-400 units; 35p in the slab of 401 and above and 50p for domestic high-tension consumers. The department has also proposed to hike in the fixed energy charges from ₹15/kilowatt (kW) a month to ₹25/kW a month.

In the commercial low-tension (LT) category, the department has proposed an increase in the range of 25p to 50p for different stabs for both single and three-phase consumers and also proposed to increase the fixed monthly charges from ₹25/kW to ₹40 for single phase and from ₹100/kW to ₹120 per kW for three phase.

For commercial high-tension, the fixed monthly charges have been proposed to increase from ₹100 to ₹120 and energy charges from ₹4.50 per kWh (kilowatt hour) to ₹5/kWh.

For large, medium and small industry, the department has proposed a marginal hike of 10p/kWh, 20p/kWh and 20p/kWh, respectively.

For agriculture sector, an increase of 20p has been proposed from ₹2.60/kWh to 2.80/kWh. For public lighting system and streetlights, managed by the municipal corporation or outsourced agency, the department has proposed to increase the tariff from ₹4.80/kWh to ₹5/kWh and for advertisement/neon boards installed on commercial establishments and charged under the commercial tariff, an increase from ₹6.40/kWh to ₹6.60/kWh has been proposed.

With the implementation of the Electric Vehicle Policy, the department has also proposed to increase the tariff of EV charging station from existing ₹3.60/kWh to ₹3.80/kWh.

In 2022-23, the commission had approved an increase of 25 paisa in retail tariff up to 150 kWh (kilowatt-hour) per month. Before that, the last increase in the domestic and commercial electricity tariff was affected in 2018-2019.