Power tariff goes up in U.P.

Hindu Correspondent

Rates for Kanpur, Noida later
LUCKNOW: Power consumers in Uttar Pradesh, both domestic and commercial, will have to pay more for electricity consumption following the new tariff announced by the U.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) late on Thursday night. The tariff for Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (KESCO) in Kanpur and Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) in Noida would be announced separately at a later date by the Regulatory Commission.

The new rates, which were announced in a jiffy by the Commission, are likely to come into effect within a week. The hike was announced in the background of the controversy following the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited's (UPPCL) decision to hand over the distribution network in Agra to a private franchisee, Torrent Power Company, on April 1 with the power employees resorting to indefinite work boycott.

Though the agitation was withdrawn late on Thursday night following an assurance by the State Government, the issue continues to simmer. Reports from Agra said that some Torrent employees were roughed up by the consumers following a snag that led to a power cut.

On an average the power tariff has been hiked by 13 per cent across the board and for the urban domestic consumers the increase would be around 20 per cent. The energy charges for urban domestic power consumers have been upped from Rs. 3.30 per unit to Rs. 3.45 per unit on consumption up to 200 units. For consumption above 200 units the charges have been increased from Rs. 3.30 to Rs. 3.80 per unit.

Fixed monthly charges for this set of consumers have been hiked from Rs. 60 to Rs. 65.

While no increase has been announced for the below the poverty line (BPL) consumers, rural domestic users having un-metered connections will now have to pay Rs. 125 per month as compared to Rs. 110 per month. Getting power connections for house construction has also become dearer with the rate of temporary connections being increased by 15 per cent.

For the commercial sector the rates have been upped from Rs. 4.30 per unit to Rs. 4.95 with the same rates being applicable for small and medium industries. For the large and heavy industries the tariff has been revised from Rs. 4 to Rs. 4.60 per unit.

The U.P. Power Corporation is likely to earn a revenue of around Rs. 15,703 crore from the revised tariff. Incidentally, the power body had proposed an increase of around 22 per cent but the Regulatory Commission settled for 13 per increase. In the last tariff hike announced in April 2008, the rates had been increased by eight per cent.

Meanwhile, the indefinite work boycott by power employees and engineers in protest against the privatisation of Agra's distribution network was withdrawn late on Thursday.