300 free power units: Govt yet to put in request before PSERC

Aman Sood
Patiala, April 5

The Aam Aadmi Party’s pre-poll promise of giving 300 free units to domestic consumers notwithstanding, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has kept the tariff for different types of consumers same as last year.

No change in average cost of supply

• In its tariff order for 2022-23, the average cost of power supply has been kept constant at Rs6.48 per unit
• If the pre-poll promise of free 300 units has to be implemented, the average cost of supply should have increased
• Since this is not the case, it means there is no confirmation on the quantum of subsidies to be paid by govt to any category of consumer

In its tariff order for 2022-23, the average cost of power supply has been kept constant at Rs 6.48 per unit.

To decode this, here are a few pointers. If the pre-poll promise of free 300 units has to be implemented, the average cost of supply should have increased. Since this is not the case, it means there is no confirmation on the quantum of subsidies to be paid by the Punjab Government to any category of consumer.

As per norm, the government seeks permission from the PSERC to implement subsidised tariff for a particular category of consumers.

In its tariff order, the PSERC has not calculated the subsidy payable by the government to the PSPCL.

“The grant of subsidy to any consumer or class of consumers by the government in the tariff determined by the commission shall be governed by Section 65 of the Electricity Act, 2003. The commission takes note of the subsidy announced by the government in line with Section 65. The PSPCL may recover subsidy from the government based on tariff of the relevant section,” the order reads.

All-India Power Engineers Federation spokesperson VK Gupta said, “This peculiar position has arisen because there is no confirmation on the quantum of subsidies to be paid by the government for any category of consumers. At present, besides free power to the agricultural sector, there are reduced tariffs for domestic and industrial consumers, and reduced fixed charges for the industry.”

The PSPCL had worked out a subsidy bill of Rs 13,929 crore based on the announcements made by the previous Congress government. This included Rs 6,936 crore for agriculture, about Rs 4,000 for domestic consumers and the Rs 3,000 crore for industrial consumers.

“The government’s total subsidy bill to be paid to the PSPCL will exceed Rs 21,000 crore. In case the AAP government implements its pre-poll promise of giving free 300 units of power to domestic consumers, the subsidy bill will touch Rs 22,300 crore,” said power experts.

A senior PSPCL official said that the power corporation would study the order in detail and take up the matter with the government for the timely release of the subsidy amount.