APERC finds no fault in power billing, links higher tariff to usage
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has clarified that it found no defect in the billing procedure followed by the power distribution companies (Discoms) to generate bills for the lockdown months and that higher rates were a result of increased consumption.
The commission, which examined the bills submitted by a few complainants, however, noted that there was a chance that consumer might have fallen in a higher slab if meter reading was taken for more than 30 days. But, it immediately explained that the bill would be only marginally higher, but not as inflated as being alleged.
According to a statement on Thursday, APERC Chairman Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy reviewed the situation after some consumers registered complaints alleging that the Discoms’ method to calculate the consumption of power in lockdown months led to substantial increase in the bills. The statement noted that after examining the bills, the APERC said that the Discoms billed the consumption month wise (30 days) irrespective of the duration between previous and current month reading.
For the consumption to be billed in April 2020, the bill was calculated for the consumption recorded up to March 31 at the rates of Tariff Order for 2019-20 and for the consumption from April 1, 2020, the bill was calculated at the rates of Tariff Order for 2020-21 taking the units on pro-rata basis. The units to be billed for May 20 are calculated as per the Tariff Order for 2020-21. “The billing procedure adopted is not questionable and found to be in order,” the commission said.
After perusal of the three electricity bills submitted to the commission, the APERC said that the bill changes due to slab/group change or due to meter reading delay is not significant. The APERC said the billing month duration shall be from 28 to 32 days. “However, in extraordinary situations of lockdown in the State, there is chance that the consumer may fall in higher slab rates if meter reading is taken for more than 30 days. But, it may increase the bill to a maximum of `58 for a consumer in Group ‘A’ and `260 for a consumer in Group ‘B’ if their consumption exceeds the maximum limits specified in Tariff Order,” the commission said. The present dynamic grouping based billing as per new Tariff Order for 2020-21 will benefit consumers to get low electricity bills if consumption is reduced in subsequent months.