PANAJI
Going ahead with the implementation of prepaid smart meters, the Goa government is set to charge Rs 117.50 per meter per month to the consumers as part of power tariff, which will raise the tariff by almost 5.75 per cent.
However, the government has justified that it is just a minor increase and the payment impact would be minimal as it is staggered over a period of 93 months.
Power Minister Ramkrishna 'Sudin' Dhavalikar on Monday informed the Legislative Assembly that the Electricity department has proposed a 5.75 per cent overall marginal tariff hike for the financial year 2025-26, with a minimal increase of around 3 per cent for the lower slabs covering nearly 70 per cent of domestic consumers.
He stated that the tariff revision process is a statutory annual exercise mandated under the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) regulations, while also clarifying that, compared to other states, Goa has one of the lowest electricity tariffs, even as the per capita income is the highest.
“In accordance with JERC Regulations, the Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Tariff Filing are undertaken as a yearly exercise. Considering the overall annual expenditure of the electricity department, including power purchase, salaries, operation and maintenance, capital expenditure, etc, the ARR is determined,” he said, while responding to a Calling Attention Motion raised by Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao and MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Carlos Ferreira, Cruz Silva, Venzy Viegas and Viresh Borkar.
Dhavalikar said the project introduced as part of the Central Government’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) of the Ministry of Power, gives the department an upper hand to not pay any amount outright to the vendor until the project is commissioned.
“The project implementation time is 27 months, and the vendor will operate and maintain the system for the next 93 months. Even after successful implementation, the vendor will be paid on a per-meter per-month basis. For 7.5 lakh smart meters to be installed under the project, the cost payable to the vendor is Rs 117.50 per meter per month, and the total monthly cost is Rs 9.57 crore,” he informed.
This cost, Dhavalikar added, will be part of the tariff petition filed with JERC. “The impact on the consumer will be minimal as the payment is staggered over 93 months. Smart meters will provide accurate and transparent billing, with real-time energy consumption readings to consumers. This avoids surprises due to unexpectedly high bills, and it empowers consumers to monitor their usage patterns and save energy. It helps in better load forecasting and scheduling, thereby reducing power purchase cost, which will be passed on to consumers,” he explained.
The department has been under regulatory regime of the JERC since FY 2011-12 and tariff revisions since then comprised of 11.80 percent from June 1, 2012, 7.60 percent from April 1, 2014, 14 percent from April 1, 2015, 4.85 percent from April 1, 2016, 6.37 percent from April 1, 2018, 1.58 percent from April 1, 2022, 5.19 percent from April 1, 2023, and 3.50 percent from June 16, 2024.
“For FY 2025-26, the department has proposed an overall marginal tariff hike of 5.75 percent. Out of this, for LT domestic consumers – the initial two lower slabs, which cover approximately 70 percent of domestic consumers – have been subjected to a minimal increase of around 3 percent,” he reiterated.
