While granting a portion of the Kerala State Electricity Board’s proposal for tariff hike, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission has also directed it to recover the power charge arrears of ₹2,000 crore from the private sector.
Than seeking a legal recourse to disentangle the disputes over arrears, a one-time settlement has been recommended, commission chairman Preman Dinraj said on Monday. The arrears has not been considered as the loss incurred by the board, while fixing the power tariff. This has been treated as income of the board.
On failing to realise the arrears, the board would be in the red and the burden would not be passed onto consumers, he said. It has also been directed to redeploy its employees as per a report of the IIM, Kozhikode, but has not recommended a retrenchment. It has been told to replace faulty power meters. The board should avail itself of Central assistance to replace such meters.
The commission has also recommended a master trust pension fund for employees. The commission hopes that the board will be able to offset its loss within four years after the current tariff revision.
