PANAJI
The Centre’s directive to Goa to plug gaps in the implementation of time of day (ToD) tariffs has placed the Pramod Sawant government in a politically sensitive spot, just six months ahead of elections.
The Ministry of Power, in its Distribution Utilities Ranking (DUR) Report for FY 2024 25 had flagged Goa’s poor performance on demand side response and has recommended urgent improvement, including installation of ToD meters (smart meters) for eligible categories, excluding agriculture.
The timing is awkward as it comes at a time when Goa’s power department continues to face a deluge of complaints over substantially higher monthly bills since a tariff hike took effect on January 1.
Already, consumers across Goa have reported steep increases in their electricity bills and their protests had forced the government to buckle and withdraw its policy of penalising consumers for exceeding sanctioned load.
Sawant, it may be recalled, had scrapped the policy of imposing penalties after citizens and Opposition parties accused the administration of burdening households without consultation.
The controversy was compounded by the rollout of smart meters which the government also abruptly halted after the Electricity Department had already installed close to one lakh of the proposed 7.5 lakh meters.
Senior officials of the Electricity Department were unwilling to speak on the development, saying it is for the government at the political and policy level to take a call.
Attempts to contact Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar for the government's response were unsuccessful as his phone was continuously not reachable.
Smart meters are central to implementing dynamic ToD tariffs, enabling remote readings and differential pricing across peak and off peak hours.
Under the ToD structure which the Sawant government's Power Minister had introduced in October 2025, consumers with smart meters were to be charged 80% of the normal tariff between 9 am and 5 pm, 120% between 5 pm and 1 am, and 100% between 1 am and 9 am.
This dynamic pricing was also restricted to industrial consumers days after it was announced in October last year after public opposition. The Sawant government then decided not to extend the ToD tariffs to domestic consumers for three years.
The Centre’s push now forces the government to revisit that decision.
One senior engineer familiar with the billing protocols admitted that extending ToD pricing to domestic consumers could potentially drive monthly bills even higher.
Goans tend to consume more power during peak hours when they return home in the evening. ToD will drive their gross monthly billing higher," the engineer said.
With elections looming, the Sawant administration can ill afford fresh unrest over power costs which is likely if it gives in to the Centre's pressure for technical compliance. Many households are already struggling with inflated bills and the prospect of higher peak hour charges could prove politically explosive.
The Sawant government therefore faces a difficult task in meeting the Centre’s mandate and its road to ToD implementation looks fraught.
