Electricity consumers of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) can expect a lower bill from January 2019 on account of a new tariff set by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).
The BEST administration made the announcement at its committee meeting on Wednesday. MERC in its order had reduced the rates for BEST’s consumers by approximately 6% to 8%. The new tariff was supposed to come into effect on September 1, but BEST officials said they only received the order in early October.
Officials said a software glitch was delaying implementation of the order.
Senior BEST committee member and Congress corporator Ravi Raja raised the issue over the delay in the implementation of the new tariff. “What has taken them so much time to implement this? The reduction in rate is not a small one and it would make a huge difference in people’s bills,” he said.
The administration informed them that the new tariffs will reflect in the bills from December onwards. The additional tariff collected from consumers in the months of September and October will be offset in their January bills. BEST provides electricity to 10.5 lakh consumers and cover most of south Mumbai.
