The 2.27 crore power consumers in the State may have to shell down heavier amounts towards electricity bills as a hefty hike in tariff is likely to come into effect from July 1.
Tariff is usually hiked from April 1 but this time it is being done from July1 due to delay in submission of tariff proposals by the power utilities. As a result, the amount proposed to be collected from consumers for the entire 2010-11 fiscal will be collected in just nine months.
Deadline
As the deadline for submission of the Aggregate Revenue Reports (tariff proposals) by the APTransco and the four distribution companies for 2010-11 fiscal ends on Thursday after two extensions given by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC), officials are running against time to finalise the ARRs.
The APERC will notify the ARRs, call for objections from consumers and organisations and conduct public hearings at different places before issuing the orders with or without changes in the tariff rates proposed. The Discoms will project their financial requirements for the financial year (12 months), citing their relative deficits. The government kept the power tariff hike on hold for eight years in row so far while the revenue-expenditure gap of the power utilities widened.
Meanwhile, the sum due to the utilities, especially the Discoms, from the government towards subsidies and additional power purchases reached a massive Rs. 10,700 crore by March 31, 2009. This further added to their deficits. This includes a balance amount of Rs. 2,848 crore due to them from out of the Rs. 6,040 crore allotted in the 2009-10 budget.
