Chandigarh, November 30
Refusing to buckle down under pressure of the Punjab Government, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission today slashed the power tariff rates by 3 to 13 per cent, thus giving relief of about Rs 400 crore to various categories of power customers, except the subsidised agriculture sector in the state.
However, there will be a reduction of 3 per cent in tariff rates for non-subsidised agriculture sector tubewells. Of the Rs 400 crore relief, about Rs 300 crore will go to large-scale industrial and bulk power consumer sector. The minimum monthly charges have also been reduced by 10 per cent.
In other words, power customers would have to pay less as power tariff with effect from October 1, the date picked up by the commission to enforce its order regarding the downward revised power tariff rates. The PSEB would have to refund the money it has charged from customers since October 1.
This order will have to be implemented as the government cannot challenge it in any court as per the Electricity Act, 2003. It could only be challenged in yet-to-be-constituted tribunal by the Union Government, says Mr R.S. Mann, Chairman of the commission, who pronounced the order today.
The state government had built strong pressure on the commission members, urging them not to reduce the tariff rates, but the commission members refused to budge from their stand, taking the plea that they would go by the law and do what they are supposed to do under the Act.
Actually, the new tariff order has been enforced from April 1, last. However, the PSEB would direct the board to keep the excess money charged from power consumers from April 1 to September 30 in a specially Regulatory Reserve Fund. The commission would decide next year to utilise this money for the benefit of consumers either adjusting it in power tariff or by taking some other measure. In all the reserve fund would be to the tune of Rs 291.19 crore as it includes surplus money of Rs 262.43 crore charged from consumers during the financial year 2003-04.
The maximum relief has been passed on to the large-scale industry, bulk supply and public lighting sector, the tariff rate for which has been cut by 8 per cent, and for the medium-scale industry, it is 6 per cent. For Railways, the reduction in tariff will be by 10 per cent and for domestic and small-scale industry, the cut in tariff will be 3 per cent.
The major beneficiary will be the rural domestic sector for which tariff rates have been cut by 13 per cent. In fact it has been done to impose indirect penalty on the PSEB which has not been living to the expectations as for as supplying power to the domestic sector is concerned. Justifying such a heavy slash in case of rural domestic sector, Mr Mann said that the rural sector remains most of the time in the dark as supply of power to that sector was very poor. He said that it would be totally unjustified to charge power tariff on the urban pattern from the rural domestic sector, which faces prolonged power cuts.
For the subsidised farming sector, there will be no change in the existing rates. The Punjab Government had asked the commission that there should be no change in the existing rates for this sector and the government would pay the subsidy required to be paid to keep the rates at the current level. The benefit of free power
supply up to 50 units to Scheduled Castes would also continue as the government promised to pay the subsidy of Rs 50 crore for this purpose.
In all the state government would be paying Rs 902.56 crore( including Rs 852.56 crore for farming sector) as subsidy to the PSEB. However, most of the money will be on transfer in books because the state government would adjust this money against the interest on loans and electricity duty it has to recover from the PSEB. It would have pay only about Rs 200 crore in cash to the board.
Power tariff up to 100 units slab has been reduced to 200 paise per unit from the existing 206 paise, and for 101 to 300 units slab, it has been brought down to 334 paise per unit from the existing 344 paise. Above 300 units, it has been brought down to 353 paise per unit from 364 paise. For the subsidised farming sector it will be 57 paise per unit in case of metered supply and Rs 60 per BHP per month.
For the small-scale power consumer, the new tariff rate will be 306 paise per unit against the existing rate of 315 paise. For the medium-scale industry, new tariff rates will be 337 paise against the existing rate of 357 paise. For general category industry, the rate has been brought down to 337 paise per unit against the existing rate of 366 paise.
The PSEB had pegged its annual revenue requirement at Rs 8187 crore. However, the commission brought down it to Rs 7425 crore, after deducing the unjustified expenditures. Mr Mann says that even after the enforcing of the new downward revised rates, the board would be revenue surplus though it had projected the revenue deficit at Rs 787 crore. The average cost of power calculated by the commission while fixing the new rates is 310 paise while earlier it was 313 paise per unit.
The tariff rate has also been slashed for the Golden Temple and Durgiana Temple, Amritsar. For both these temples, first 2,000 units will be free and above these rates will be 273 paisa per unit against the earlier rate of 281 paisa per unit.
