BENGALURU: Get ready to pay an extra 35 per paise per unit in your electricity bill as the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Monday announced an increase in power tariff. The average hike is 35 paise per unit, which works out to an increase of 4.33 per cent. Commission Chairman HM Manjunatha told the media that the increase comes into effect from April 1.
“Against the demand of Rs 1.85 per unit by electric supply companies (escoms), the commission has increased the tariff by 5 paise per unit and hiked the fixed charges ranging between Rs 10 and Rs 30 per unit. The overall increase in tariff per unit is 35 paise,” Manjunatha added.
He said the demand of escoms was rejected as they were unable to substantiate their claim with sufficient documents and the hike was pegged at 35 paise per unit. The revision of tariff will help escoms recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,159.48 crore, which includes Rs 1,700.49 crore deficit in the financial year 2021.
PANDEMIC LED TO REVENUE LOSS
Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) Chairman HM Manjunatha said the Covid pandemic brought down the sale of power by 7,228.65 MU (million units) in 2021-22, resulting in a revenue loss of Rs 6,182.84 crore. Distribution losses are at 10 per cent and transmission losses at 3 per cent. For escoms, the power purchase cost is Rs 6.43 per unit, while the sale cost is Rs 8.43 per unit.
