UPPCL proposes 44% increase on new connections for rural consumers

UPPCL proposes significant hikes in new power connection rates in Uttar Pradesh, affecting rural and industrial consumers. Government denies plans for rate increase.

LUCKNOW: Taking a new power connection in Uttar Pradesh is going to be a costly affair in the coming days as the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) management has submitted revised rates for consumer materials to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The proposed rates will affect everyone from poor rural consumers to industrial users, with a significant hike in fees to acquire a new connection.

For industrial connections, the rates are set to increase by 50% to 100%. (Sourced)

However, Uttar Pradesh minister of energy and urban development AK Sharma said here on Sunday that recent proposals from power companies were an annual exercise aimed at maintaining financial health and the state government had no plans to increase rates for new connections.

“The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) management has the right to submit revised rates for consumer materials to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission for new connections, but the state government has no plan to increase the rates as proposed by them,” said Sharma.

According to the proposed revised rates, as detailed in the Cost Data Book, poor rural consumers will have to pay 44% more for a new connection. For industrial connections, the rates are set to increase by 50% to 100%.

The Board of Directors of the UPPCL has recently granted authority to power companies to reclassify rural electricity feeders as urban feeders. This reclassification will effectively increase electricity rates for rural consumers by one and a half times.

For small consumers, there is a proposal to increase connection rates by 44%. The labour and overhead charges, which are ₹150 for up to two kilowatts, are set to increase to ₹564. This will result in approximately a 44% increase in the rates for new connections for Below Poverty Line (BPL) and small consumers. A one-kilowatt lifeline electricity consumer who used to pay ₹1,032 excluding GST will now have to pay ₹1,486 if the proposed rate is implemented.

The cost of smart metres is also set to increase, with the single-phase metre now priced at ₹3,822 and the three-phase metre at ₹6,316.

The officials of UPPCL said that if the rates (Cost Data Book) were not updated on time within the next two years, the UPPCL would be under stress.

Chairman of the UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, Avdhesh Kumar Varma, said, “This proposed increase in electricity connection rates in Uttar Pradesh is expected to impose an additional financial burden on the state’s consumers.”

“We have also voiced strong opposition to a recent order by the Board of Directors of the corporation, which has granted power companies the authority to reclassify rural electricity feeders as urban feeders, effectively increasing the electricity rates for rural consumers by one and a half times,” he said.

Meanwhile, Satnam Singh, an office-bearer of the UP Power Engineers’ Association, stressed that rural areas, characterised by long feeders, distant substations, and agricultural dependency, cannot be reclassified as urban simply by providing electricity supply.