E-Paper
Reduce power tariff for lower-income consumers: Chandigarh administrator to UT admn
The Chandigarh administrator also directed the engineering department to conduct an energy audit to identify gaps in transmission and distribution systems, and implement remedial measures to reduce losses
Three months after the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) approved a 9.4% power tariff hike for 2024-25, UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday directed the UT engineering department to review and rationalise the tariff, with focus on alleviating burden on lower-income consumers.
While chairing a meeting, Kataria instructed the department to explore ways to reduce the tariff for lower-income consumers when preparing the tariff petition for the next financial year (2025-26) to be submitted to JERC for approval.
The administrator also directed the department to conduct an energy audit to identify gaps in transmission and distribution systems, and implement remedial measures to reduce losses. He said the savings from improved energy efficiency should benefit consumers.
Under the current tariff structure, effective from August 1, 2024, domestic consumers are paying a fixed charge of ₹30 per month, compared to ₹15 previously. In the 0-150 kWh slab, the rate remains ₹2.75 per unit, while in the 151-400 kWh slab, it had increased from ₹4.25 to ₹4.80 per unit.
For commercial and non-residential buildings, the most significant change was in the slab above 400 kWh per month, where the rate rose from ₹5 to ₹5.90 per unit.
While the UT electricity department had proposed an up to 19.44% hike, JERC had approved a 9.4% increase in the power tariff in July.
Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari, who strongly opposed the power tariff hike in July, stated that if the UT administrator wanted to give relief to poor consumers, the administration should provide 300 units of free electricity to households earning less than ₹20,000 per month. Punjab government was already providing them 300 units free, he said.
