Ensure 100% metering of power use by power staff: UPERC to discoms
“Despite the abolition of the LMV-10 category—previously designated for power department employees and pensioners—through a Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) Order on November 30, 2017, discoms have failed to comply with directives to meter these consumers,” the commission observed in its order on Thursday.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has issued strong directives to power distribution companies (discoms), mandating 100% metering of electricity usage for power department employees and pensioners, who have long enjoyed unmetered consumption.
The move comes as part of the commission’s latest tariff order, which underscores the discoms’ non-compliance with regulatory provisions and aims to bring transparency and accountability in power usage.
“Despite the abolition of the LMV-10 category—previously designated for power department employees and pensioners—through a Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) Order on November 30, 2017, discoms have failed to comply with directives to meter these consumers,” the commission observed in its order on Thursday.
“All LMV-10 consumers were to be transitioned to the LMV-1 metered category, yet repeated orders from UPERC for 100% metering have gone unheeded,” it added.
In response to this ongoing violation, the Commission referred to Regulation 17.3(b) of the MYT Regulations, 2019, which stipulates the computation of deemed revenue in cases where metering is not implemented.
The petitioners, representing the discoms, submitted data on billing and revenue collected from departmental employees for FY 2022-23, which formed the basis for the Commission’s evaluation of deemed revenue.
The UPERC has consistently followed a methodology to calculate deemed revenue by increasing the consumption per consumer by 10% each month. This formula was applied in previous years, with consumption pegged at 847 units per month for FY 2021-22, 770 units for FY 2020-21, and 700 units for FY 2019-20.
For the current truing-up process of FY 2022-23, the Commission has calculated an average consumption of 931.7 units per month, with energy charges at ₹7.00 per kWh—the highest rate in the LMV-1 category.
There are around 90,000 power employees and pensioners in UP with estimated connected load of 4 lakh KW. They pay fixed monthly charges irrespective of the amount of consumption that cannot be recorded since these consumers are not metered,
UP Rajya Vidtyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Avdhesh Kumar Verma said the Electricity Act, 2003 did not allow any consumer to use electricity without a meter. “If even farmers can be compelled to have only metered power, why can’t power staff be forced to install meters on their premises?” he asked.
It may be pointed out that UP is the only state in the country where meters have not been installed in power men’s houses.
This time, emphasizing the need for metering 100% consumers, the commission has directed discoms to ensure meters were installed immediately in the houses of power employees and pensioners.
“The commission directs that metering of LMV-10 consumers (power staff) should be completed immediately. The petitioners ( discoms) are directed to provide the billing determinants and revenue collected from LMV - 10 consumers along with ARR / tariff filing,” it said in the order.
It is yet to be seen if the discoms will be able to do this, considering potential protests by employees unitions against any such move.
OTHER DIRECTIVES
Other key directives include ensuring 100% distribution transformer (DT) metering and separating agriculture feeders, with discoms required to report the status in their next tariff filings and implementing a roadmap for demand forecasting as per Central Electricity Authority (CEA) guidelines.
The order further directs discoms to explore non-tariff revenue opportunities, such as leasing infrastructure to broadband and 5G telecom companies, and to prepare a business plan for this. The Commission has also emphasized the need for better complaint resolution, suggesting an OTP-based closure mechanism for consumer complaints made via helpline 1912, with an action plan to be submitted within three months.