Power bills set to swell 20-30%

Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 10

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The next electricity bills are all set to give a shock to consumers as the UT Electricity Department has once again levied fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) charges on consumers.

The Joint Regulatory Electricity Commission (JERC) has authorised the department to compute fuel and power purchase cost variations on a quarterly basis and charge the difference from the consumers.

Whenever the department buys electricity at higher rates, it charges the consumers for it. The calculation has been made for the last quarter.

While the JERC has rejected the proposal for enhancing the rates of electricity, the department has burdened the consumers in another way.

Sources said the department had levied the FPPCA charges for electricity used during the January-March quarter. The FPPCA charges will be reflected in the May to July bills. The bill amount is likely to increase by 20 to 30 per cent, depending upon the category of consumers.

The charges have been levied for all types of consumers — domestic, commercial and industrial. The charges have been levied from Rs 29 paise to a maximum of Rs 1.26 per unit over and above the existing rates charged from consumers. This is the fourth hike in bills in a year.