Power bills for consumers in Maharashtra are likely to go up as the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (MERC) hike for power distributors came into effect on April 1.
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), which supplies power to over 2.5 crore residential, commercial, and industrial consumers will increase the electricity tariff by 6% for every unit. This hike comes after the discom raised the per-unit cost of electricity by 3% in September 2018. The MSEDCL is running into losses and the hike is necessitated to recover the losses and to meet the excess power demand.
Tata Power and Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) — which cater to Mumbai consumers only — increased the tariff by 2% and 1% respectively on April 1.
However, most south Mumbai residents can rejoice as the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) is expected to slash power charges by 3%. The BEST supplies 800MW to 10.5 lakh consumers in south Mumbai and has the lowest power tariff in the State as it procures cheap power.
From April 1, BEST consumers need to pay ₹2.93 per unit for consumption up to 100 units, ₹5.18 per unit from 101 units to 300 units, ₹7.79 per unit from 301 units to 500 units, and ₹9.20 per unit for consumption beyond 501 units.
“Among all the discoms, the AEML has witnessed lowest tariff hike: 1%. The AEML is the largest private power distributor in Mumbai, which serves over 27 lakh residential, commercial, and industrial customers,” a statement from the AEML said.
In Mumbai, Tata Power tariff rates are cheaper for consumption up to 300 units, and the AEML rates are cheaper for consumption beyond 301 units. In Mumbai, most of the consumers use power beyond 300 units.
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