Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) announced the revised electricity tariff for the state on Saturday. The move comes in the wake of petitions filed by KSEB and other licensed players involved in distribution of electricity. and after public consultation in four districts in Kerala.
KSERC termed the announcement of revised tariff ‘not as a hike, but tariff finalisation’. It added that revised tariff is released after considering the financial situation of customers in this Covid-19 pandemic situation. ‘Usually, multi-year tariff revision will be of five years. But considering it as a special case due to contingency, only the revision for period 2022-23 is announced’, it pointed out. The tariff revision for the next year will be announced after evaluating the performance of the licensed players , it further said.
The tariff has been increased by 6.6% of the current rate. However, the revised rate will not affect BPL customers if monthly usage is under 40 units and connect load is less than 1,000 watts, or domestic users if monthly usage is under 50 units. The domestic users whose monthy usage is up to 150 units will be hiked by 25 paise maximum. The revised rate will not affect orphanages, old age homes and anganawadis.
The BPL households having cancer patients or individuals with permanent disability are exempted from rate revision for usage up to 1,000 watts , and the subsidised rate for endosulfan victims will continue to be the same. The rates of agricultural connections not increased, whereas for small scale merchandises with a usage under 10kw connect load, tariff hike of 15 paise will be imposed. The low tariffs enjoyed by small stores, banks and pawn shops have been further reduced. There are about 5.5 lakh customers in this category.
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