Power rates up by 26%,steepest rise for North

The raise in tariff is 24.15 per cent for domestic consumers but another 8 per cent surcharge was added to this,taking the total to 26 per cent.

The power regulator also noted that a revised fuel surcharge will be added to the tariff after three months.

The consumers in North Delhi will see the steepest rise at 27.88 per cent,as the area distribution company (discom),Tata Power,till now had the lowest fuel surcharge at 4 per cent. With the surcharge being made uniform during revision,Tata Power consumers will have to shell out more.

Residents who were provided power by BSES Rajdhani,which till now levied a surcharge of 6 per cent,will face a hike of 25.47 per cent in their bills. Consumers under BSES Yamuna,who paid a surcharge of 7 per cent,will be least affected with a 24.29 per cent increase.

The fixed charge for domestic consumers,getting power of up to 2kW load,has been increased from Rs 30 per month to Rs 40 per month.

As for the cost per unit,consumers who earlier paid Rs 3 per unit for the first 200 units will now pay Rs 3.70 per unit. With the additional fuel surcharge,it will amount to

Rs 3.997.

For the next 200 units,consumers paid Rs 4.8 per unit earlier and will continue to pay the same. With the fuel surcharge it will come to 5.18 per unit.

Above 400 units,consumers will have to pay Rs 6.4 per unit,which will come to Rs 6.91 per unit (including fuel surcharge) instead of the existing Rs 5.7 per unit.

The staggered slab for consumers using power up to 400 units has been removed,and a flat rate has been put into effect.

New Delhi district,which is provided power by NDMC,has the least increase in the power tariff. (See box)

DERC Chairman P D Sudhakar said: “The ultimate purpose of power reforms is to provide continuous power supply to consumers. If revenue requirements of discoms are not met,they cannot sustain by taking loans from the banks. The interest on the loans will finally become the consumers’ burden.”

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the DERC is an independent entity and is authorised to decide power tariff. “The government has yet to receive an official communication on the new power tariff. We will look into it after we receive a copy,’ she said.

Discoms BSES and Tata Power welcomed the increase in tariff and maintained that it will help them meet the increasing power purchase cost,while the surcharge will help in partial recovery of the accumulated gaps.