THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Electricity Board’s (KSEB) move to impose a 14-paise per unit surcharge on electricity bills ran up against vehement opposition on Wednesday with consumers questioning the legality of the plea. At a public hearing conducted by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission, various categories of electricity consumers demanded the regulator to summarily reject the KSEB plea. They pointed out multiple lapses on the part of the KSEB which disqualified it from submitting the surcharge plea.
One, the KSEB has approached the Kerala High Court questioning the Tariff Regulations, 2014, issued by the Commission. The same KSEB has used sub-clauses of said regulation to demand the surcharge. ‘’KSEB cannot challenge the validity of the Tariff Regulations and at the same time claim fuel surcharge under the said regulations,’’ social activist Dijo Kappen submitted before the commission.
Two, the KSEB has not submitted the petitions for Aggregate Revenue Requirement and Expected Revenue from Charges (ARR&ERC) for three consecutive years. The KSEB is the only distribution licencees not to have done so. Three, the KSEB failed to file surcharge petitions for eight consecutive financial quarters, though rules stipulate that the petitions are to be filed within 30 days of the end of each quarter.
The HT-EHT Industrial Electricity Consumers Association, which represents the industrial consumers, the small-scale industrial consumers association and various individuals representing the general consumers demanded the commission to summarily reject the KSEB plea citing these reasons.
The KSEB had sought the commission’s approval for collecting the surcharge from consumers to recover Rs 74.60 crore, spent additionally on power purchases from thermal stations during April-June 2017.