| The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), in its tariff petition for the next financial year, has proposed the reduction in tariff categories so that domestic, commercial and industrial users pay same charges based on “load used and energy consumed”.
Already paying over 20 per cent as surcharge and taxes per unit of electricity, the power consumers in Punjab may have to shell out more from the next fiscal year as the PSPCL has sought a considerable hike in power charges to plug its revenue gap. Different categories of consumers can be merged on the basis of different slabs in sanctioned load and unit consumed. There will be many variations in existing and proposed tariff structure of various consumers. It has urged the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) that while doing so there should not be any loss to utility. The consumers in the lower brackets should be subsidised by consumers of higher slabs. “The Punjab Government is giving relief to various categories of consumers and these should be specified and defined fresh. The peak load restrictions and rebate during off-peak hours is must to allow smooth operation of system. However there should not be any extension in time period of 8 hours from 10 pm to 6 am and exclusive night tariff should not be extended to 12 hours,” says the petition.The PSPCL has sought a net annual revenue requirement of Rs 34,505.60 crore. |