PANAJI
Price rise and inflation is increasingly burdening the citizenry who now will have to bear an additional burden when power bills reach their homes next month owing to an aggregate 3.5% hike in tariff which has become effective from this week.
Both high and low tension consumers across all categories -- domestic, commercial, industrial, agriculture and public sector -- will all face increased power consumption bills in July, a senior official of the electricity department said but the hike will be the maximum for the commercial and industrial users.
The most hit will be the manufacturing sector with high tension industrial consumers having to cough up a flat five paise increase per unit irrespective of quantum of consumption. They will have to pay Rs 5.30 per unit instead of the earlier Rs 5.25 per unit on total consumption in a billing cycle without any consumption quantum slabs.
The low tension industrial consumers utilising up to 500 units per billing cycle too will be burdened by a hefty 40 paise per unit hike in tariff from Rs 3.60 to Rs 4 per unit. For those in this category consuming more than 500 units per billing cycle, each unit of electricity consumed which earlier cost Rs 4.25 per unit will now be billed at 4.65.
Domestic consumers, meanwhile, face a smaller increase in tariff. Low tension domestic consumers will be charged Rs 1.90 instead of Rs 1.75 per unit for consumption of up to 100 units in a billing cycle. Those consuming up to 200 units are now to be charged Rs 2.80 per unit instead of the earlier Rs 2.60 and a significantly higher 40 paise per unit higher rate of Rs 3.70 if they consume up to 400 units.
Meanwhile, in the case of commercial consumers like hotels, shops and other businesses with low tension connections, the earlier Rs 3.60 per unit rate has been hiked to Rs 3.75 for 100 units. Instead of Rs 4.40 per unit, consumption between 100-200 units will be charged at the rate of Rs 4.60 per unit instead of Rs 4.40 and it will increase from Rs 5 to Rs 5.30 per unit for those consuming between 200 to 400 units in a billing cycle.
The tariff hike has not spared even the agricultural category. While farmers with high consumption of up to 40 kilowatts have a five paise per unit increase to bear but the low tension consumers using up to 25 killowatts will be charged 5 paise per unit lower than the earlier tariff which is Rs 1.50 per unit instead of Rs 1.55.
The electricity department in its proposal for the power tariff hike presented to the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) had justified it by arguing that the cost of supplying power is much higher than the prevailing tariff and that it is inevitable. Also, at the public hearings conducted by the JERC in both North and South District headquarters, several opposition political leaders had accused the department of fiscal imprudence including poor recovery of massive arrears of energy charges from defaulting consumers.
