Commission okays nearly 1% hike in power tariff; new rates in Chandigarh from Nov 1

Residents will now have to shell out a little more for power consumption in the city from next month.

On a petition submitted by Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL), which is responsible for distribution and supply of electricity, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has finalised a new tariff structure for the next five financial years (2025–26 to 2029–30) in domestic and commercial categories. The revised tariff will be applicable from November 1. However, fixed charges will remain the same in the domestic category.

In its multi-year tariff (MYT) order, the commission has approved less than 1% increase in tariff for the remaining period of this financial year, and an average annual tariff increase of approximately 2% over the five-year control period.

The CPDL had proposed an average hike of 7.57% for 2025-26, to meet operational and capital expenditure needs. Additionally, the JERC has set stringent loss reduction and performance improvement targets for the company to deliver substantial efficiency and service quality enhancements within limited tariff margins.

After taking over the UT Electricity Department on February 1, the CPDL has also changed the slab system into five categories. Now, each slab consists of 100 units instead of the earlier three slabs of 0-150 units, 150 to 400 units and above 400 units.

The tariff for one-phase consumers to remain the same at Rs 2.75 per unit flat.

In the first slab, the CPDL had proposed a tariff of Rs 2.96 per unit from Rs 2.75 per unit for up to 100 units for the financial year 2025-26.

According to the order, in the two-phase low tension domestic supply category, the JERC has approved Rs 2.80 per unit for 1-100 units.

In the slab of 101-200 kWh (unit), the tariff has been revised to 3.75 per unit, and for 201-300 kWh per month, the tariff has been increased to Rs 4.80 per unit. In the 301-400 slab, tariff has been revised to Rs 5 per unit, and for above 400 units, it will remain the same at Rs 5.40 per unit.

In the non-domestic two-phase category, the JERC has approved Rs 4.55 per unit for 0-100 units, Rs 4.65 per unit for 101-200 and Rs 5.55 per unit for above 200 units.

In the three-phase category, a flat rate of Rs 6.60 per unit has been approved by the commission.

In the petition, the firm had stated that the projected revenue from the sale of power at the existing tariff is not sufficient to meet the costs estimated for efficient management of the electricity distribution functions leading to a cumulative revenue gap of Rs 982 crore (excluding carrying cost) over the entire control period of five years.

A CPDL spokesman said: “This is our first tariff order after privatisation and we fully recognise the expectation placed on us. The company is committed to improving system reliability and reducing technical losses with the support of the UT Administration and the JERC.”