BENGALURU: Experts and officials working with the government said that the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has taken parts of the Gurucharan committee report, which was also mentioned by the BJP in the state budget, to improve the energy sector.
Citizens and industries have flayed the government for power tariff hike. Experts said that the KERC and government have taken those parts from the report which will swell the state coffers and help Escoms, and not the consumers.
A suggestion in the report was to reduce the per unit cost and increase the fixed charges cost. This has been incorporated. With that, the slabs dividing the units have also been reduced, creating more burden for the consumers, especially the industries, an expert said.
“Neither the KERC nor the state government has explained the reasons behind the hike. Power tariff revision was informed in a release, a day after the voting. In the budget, it was mentioned that the report will be assessed, and incorporate it in a phased manner, but that is not done,” an expert said.
Officials said the committee had also suggested transmission and distribution losses reduction and work on the captive generations to balance economics. But these aspects are still being discussed. “Implementation of the Gurucharan panel report should have been done in a staggered manner. It was suggested the old tariff format be followed, while increasing the per unit rates, on the old format.
This would have also resolved Escoms demand for power tariff hike to tackle losses,” said a senior official from the energy department. “The KERC order can be challenged in the Appellate Tribunal, but the final decision will take time as many cases are pending.”