Power charges are set to increase in Chandigarh from the next billing cycle as the UT administrator has given his approval to the imposition of 10 paise per unit municipal cess on electricity.
Confirming it, MC commissioner KK Yadav said the tax will be notified in a day or two as the file has been cleared by UT administrator VP Singh Badnore. The new charges will be applicable from the next billing cycle, he said.
Yadav said the cess will earn MC Rs 15 crore annually that will be spent on improving streetlights across the city.
“The underground wiring of the electricity poles require improvement. The cess will be used for overall maintenance of over 40,000 streetlights, which will help make the system robust and glitch-free,” said an official.
The move will affect over 2.25 lakh consumers of all categories and power bills will go up by 10-12% depending on consumption. For instance, usage of 1,000 units will invite a cess of ₹100.
In Chandigarh, domestic consumers are sent electricity bills every two months, while bills for other categories of consumers are generated monthly. Of the 2.25 lakh consumers, 1.75 lakh are residential users.
UT consumers are also charged electricity duty, which is 9 paise per unit for residential consumers and 11 paise per unit for other categories.
It was in July last year that the MC General House had approved the imposition of the cess on power bills. Decks were cleared after the MC a month ago asked the UT administration to notify the cess on power bills after completing all formalities.
“Objections were received against imposition of tax but these were rejected as they lacked merit,” said the MC chief.