No power tariff hike in Delhi, announces regulator. Congrats, says Kejriwal

Power regulator Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has reduced fixed charges for domestic connections.

Domestic power bills for households that consume 1,200 units or less will drop by a few hundred rupees, according to the order cleared by the electricity regulator. Households that use more than the 1,200 units will have pay 25 paise more for each kiloWatt of power.

Aam Aadmi Party boss and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted soon after the regulator announced the power tariff changes. (Mohd Zakir/HT PHOTO)

Power regulator Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, an independent and quasi-judicial body, has reduced fixed charges for domestic consumers with a sanctioned load of up to 15 kW. Fixed charge, a part of the electricity bill, is the cost a consumer has to pay even if she does not consume any unit of power.

Those with a sanctioned load of 1kiloWatt will see a reduction of ₹105 in their monthly electricity bill due to reduction of fixed charges, 2kW connections will save ₹210, 3kW Rs 270, 4kW Rs 360 while 5kW and 6kW connections will save Rs 450.

Energy charges, which are the unit cost of electricity in Delhi, have, however, gone up from Rs 7.75/kWh to Rs 8/kWh for households that consume more than 1,200 units.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had then sharply criticised the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the city for the hiked bills. AAP did attempt to counter that campaign, asserting that power charges in Delhi were still the lowest in the country.

Aam Aadmi Party boss and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted soon after the regulator announced the power tariff changes.

This is the fifth consecutive year that people had been spared of a tariff hike, he said, clearly not accounting for last year’s increase in fixed charges.

“Delhi has lowest electricity tariffs in the country now. And… is the only place in India wid 24x7 electricity,” Kejriwal tweeted.