Prepare to shell out more for electricity since power tariffs in the Capital have been revised to adjust variations in market-driven fuel costs.
The enhanced tariffs come into effect from Saturday and will add the Capital to a list of 21 States that allow Power Purchase Adjustment Cost (PPAC) variations in electricity bills.
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Thursday approved a fuel surcharge of seven per cent for BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), 4.5 per cent for BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and 2.5 per cent for Tata Power. Tata Power supplies electricity to North Delhi, BRPL to South and West Delhi, and BYPL to East and Central Delhi.
However, the DERC insisted the hike will have minimal effect on a majority of consumers.
“As many as 80 per cent of power consumers in the Capital consume around 400 units of electricity and also get a subsidy of Rs.1.20 per unit. So, in absolute terms, the increase in electricity bills will either be non-existent or nominal at the most for these users,” said a senior DERC official.
The DERC said the adjustment was in consonance with an order from the appellate authority that had declared a necessary review of power cost and tariffs every quarter depending on fuel costs. The power regulator had introduced PPAC in 2012 to help private power distribution companies recover additional cost on account of increase in coal and gas prices.
The development, meanwhile, kicked up a political storm with both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is to blame for soon-to-be-inflated power bills.
“Why is the Central BJP government increasing power tariffs on the basis of fuel costs when international fuel costs have actually gone down? This means the government and power companies are hand-in-glove when it comes to robbing Delhiites of their hard-earned money. I will sit on an indefinite hunger strike to demand a rollback tomorrow [Friday] onwards,” said Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) spokesperson Mukesh Sharma.
The AAP described the tariff hike as “a fraud with the people of Delhi, who are being punished for not having an elected government.”
Reiterating its promise to reduce electricity tariff by half if it comes to power, the party said discoms have fudged their account books to show losses to furnish grounds for tariff revision.
“This tariff hike will further burden the common man and give undue benefit to discoms. The DERC has failed to perform its duty as an independent regulator. Its decisions seem to benefit the discoms that are under Comptroller and Auditor General [CAG] scrutiny,” said the party.
