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Power gets dearer by 34 paise in Haryana; 6th hike in 18 months
Pradeep Sharma/TNS

Chandigarh, October 25
The Power Department dealt yet another shock to consumers in Haryana by effecting sixth hike in electricity tariff in the past 18 months. The revised tariff will come into effect from October 1.

All power consumers, except the agriculture sector, will have to pay 34 paise per unit more for electricity on account of fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA). The Hooda Government did not make any formal announcement of the hike in an apparent bid to escape the backlash from the electorate in the pre-election year. The hike was announced through a sales circular by the Chief Engineer (Commercial) of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).

Preferring not to call it a regular tariff hike, officials claimed it had been done to recover the FSA on costly short-term purchases by the power distribution companies — the DHBVN and the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and - in the second quarter (July-September) of the current financial year.

“The tariff hike of 34 paise would be applicable to all consumers except those falling under the agricultural sector,” an official asserted. This is the sixth power tariff hike - two regular and four through the FSA - by the Hooda Government, which is already at the receiving end for imposing “backdoor taxes” since April last year.

On July 1, the discoms had effected a power tariff hike of 34 per unit. Earlier, the department had effected a 13 per cent (70 paise per unit) average hike in the power tariff from April 1, 2013. A power tariff hike ranging from 17 paise to 45 paise per unit was introduced from September 1 last year to recover Rs 350 crore spent on the purchase of power at a high cost by way of the FSA.