THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the stand-off continuing between State Electricity Regulatory Commission(SERC) and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) over the filing of annual statements and tariff proposals, the commission has extended the validity of existing electricity tariffs in the state upto December 31.
Although the KSEB filed the aggregate revenue requirement and expected revenue from charges (ARR&ERC) statement for 2015-16, months ago, the commission has not approved it saying it is not in the prescribed format. The matter is in court now, and, according to commission officials, the court is yet to take a final call.
The last tariff revision was made in August 2014 for retail consumers and September 2014 for licencees. The term of both tariffs ended in March 2015, but on account of the dispute, the commission extended their validity to September 30. With the matter yet to be sorted out, a further extension has been given now.
The entire issue is centred on the commission’s demand that the KSEB should file the statement in multi-year tariff format (MYT). Under MYT, the KSEB is required to submit ARR statements for three financial years at one go. Now, statements are filed only for the upcoming financial year.