Ahead of the Assembly election due early next year, the Punjab government has announced a cut of 50 paise to ₹1 per unit for domestic power consumers.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said the cut would provide relief to domestic consumers, especially the poor, already reeling under financial problems due to the pandemic.
Regulator’s move hailed
While pointing out that the decision of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) to reduce the domestic tariff would bring relief to the tune of ₹682 crore for 69 lakh domestic consumers, the Chief Minister appreciated the decision of the regulator not to increase tariff for commercial consumers as well as small and medium industry amid COVID-19.
The hike in tariff for industrial users was quite marginal, he said, adding that this would also come as a relief to industry, which had also been severely impacted by the lockdown and demand crisis.
He said the reduction in domestic tariff for load up to 2 KW (₹1.00 per unit and 50 paise per unit for consumption slabs of 0 to 100 units and 101 to 300 units respectively) and 2 KW - 7 KW (75 paise per unit and 50 paise per unit for consumption slabs of 0 to 100 units and 101 to 300 units respectively) works out to 22.30% cut in tariff for the first slab up to 2 KW load.
This would benefit the poor and vulnerable sections the most, he added.
