The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Thursday announced power tariff revision for all categories of consumers to permit the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to mop up an additional annual income of Rs.1,676.84 crore.
The revised rates will come into effect from July 1. The overall average increase in tariff is 30.02 per cent from the existing level.
For domestic power consumers, the new tariffs are: Rs.1.50 per unit up to 40 units a month, Rs.1.90 per unit from 41 to 80 units, Rs.2.20 per unit from 81 to 120 units, Rs.2.40 per unit from 121 to 150 units, Rs.3.10 per unit from 151 to 200 units, Rs.3.50 per unit from 201 to 300 units and Rs.4.60 per unit from 301 to 500 units per month.
The billing will be done under the ‘telescopic slab system’ for the domestic power consumers, which means that the charge per unit for the same consumer will go up slab after slab.
The domestic power consumers drawing more than 500 units a month, however, will have to pay at a uniform rate of Rs.6.50 a unit for the entire quantum of energy used by them. Further, time-of-the-day metering will be introduced for these high-end domestic consumers from January 1, 2013 for charging them at a still higher rate for the energy used by them between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., when the demand is at its peak.
In addition, there will be a new fixed charge of Rs.20 a month for single- phase domestic connections and Rs.60 a month for three-phase domestic connections. Those using up to 40 units a month are exempted from the fixed charge.
For low-tension industrial connections, the fixed charge will go up from Rs.45 to Rs.60 a month and the energy charge from Rs.3.25 to Rs.4.25 a unit. For high-tension industrial connections, the demand charge will go up from Rs.270 to Rs.300 per kVA a month and the energy charge from Rs.3 to Rs.4.10 a unit. And for extra-high-tension industrial connections, both the demand charge and the energy charge will remain at the present level of Rs.2.75 per kVA a month and Rs.4 a unit respectively.
Existing tariffs for commercial establishments such as shops and showrooms are already much higher than the average cost involved in supplying energy. The commission has, therefore, not changed their tariff structure up to the level of a consumption of 500 units a month. Above this level of consumption, the tariff for them will go up from the existing Rs.8.05 to Rs.8.50 a unit.
