Power tariffs in Delhi to see marginal hike from October

DERC keeps rates of electricity units and regulatory asset surcharge unchanged, but hikes pension trust surcharge which is levied on every bill, by 2 percentage points.

Electricity bills of all consumers in the National Capital will see an increase of 2 percentage points from October 1, as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Thursday announced the new power tariff order for 2021-22.

Electricity bills in the Capital will see an increase of 2 percentage points from October 1, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) announced on Thursday. (HT PHOTO.)

In its order this time, the DERC kept all other rates such as per unit energy cost and fixed charges on the sanctioned load of every household constant. Still, power bills will see a minor increase from next month because the power regulator raised the ‘pension trust surcharge’ from the current 5% to 7%.

Apart from the goods and services taxes, two surcharges are levied on every electricity bill in Delhi. These are the pension surcharge, which goes towards paying pension to former employees of power utilities before the electricity sector was decentralised, and the regulatory asset surcharge, which goes to power distribution companies (discoms) to make up for their revenue deficits. Under the new order, the regulatory asset surcharge will remain unchanged at 8%.

Last year too, in its tariff order issued on August 28, 2020, the DERC had kept all other rates that occur in an electricity bill constant, except for the pension trust surcharge. Last year, the pension surcharge was increased from 3.8% to 5% and this year it has been increased to 7%.