LUCKNOW: The UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) on Thursday announced keeping of the power tariff unchanged for the 2021-22 fiscal, in a development which comes as a big sop to people just month ahead of the UP assembly elections due next year.
The decision was taken by the electricity panel headed by chairman RP Singh, who along with members K Sharma and VK Srivastava rejected the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) proposal to increase the regulatory surcharge by 12%.
The corporation had pleaded to raise a surcharge of around Rs 50,000 crore which eventually had been passed on to the electricity consumers.
With this, the tariff remains unchanged for urban domestic, commercial and rural consumers. Urban domestic consumers will continue to pay at the rate of Rs 5.50/unit for the first 150 units, Rs 6/unit for next 151-300 units, Rs 6.50/unit for 301-500 units and Rs 7/unit beyond 500 units. The fixed charge too has been kept unchanged at Rs 119/kw/month.
A senior UPERC official termed the order as significant given the rise in the prices of coal, oil and other logistics including salaries of the employees.
The commission maintained that the maximum demand during the month recorded by the meter will have to be indicated in the monthly bill if the meter reading is done by the licensee (distribution company). This will not be the case if the bill is generated on the basis of reading submitted by the consumer.
For rural consumers, the UPPCL will levy a charge of Rs 1000/Kw in case of unmetered consumers, The metered consumers will be required to pay at the rate of Rs 5.50 per unit, besides a fixed charge of Rs 110/Kw/month.
