Power shock: Consumers to pay up to 30 paise more per unit
Electricity in the state will now cost more as the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has revised the tariff from April 1. The rates will increase for both domestic and industrial categories from 20 to 30 paise per unit — technically called kWh (kilowatt hours).
The tariff for domestic consumers has been hiked by 20 paise per kWh. In a slab of 0 to 50 units, the rate has now been revised from Rs 2 per kWh to Rs 2.20 per kWh.
The tariff order was released late on Tuesday night.
In the 51-100 unit slab, the rate has been increased from Rs 2.50 per kWh to Rs 2.70 per kWh.
Consumers with consumption of over 100 units a month (in the slab of 0-150 units) will pay Rs 2.95 per kWh, up from Rs 2.75.
"Further, this new tariff structure delivers immediate relief to households by eliminating the burden of Minimum Monthly Charges (MMC). However, a two-part tariff regime has been introduced in which no fixed charges will be levied on domestic consumers having monthly energy consumption up to 300 units. The tariff for Category-I domestic consumers is still one of the lowest among the neighbouring states," the official statement claimed.
Meanwhile, the rate for the slab of 151-300 units stands at Rs 5.25 per kWh; Rs 6.45 per kWh for 301 to 500 units; and for consumption of over 500 units, it will be Rs 7.10 per kWh.
The power regulator has also added a new category for consumers having a load of over 5 kilowatts.
In the 0 to 500 unit category, the rate has been fixed at Rs 6.50 per kWh, followed by Rs 7.15 per kWh for 501 to 1,000 units; and Rs 7.50 per kWh for more than 1,000 units.
Besides, fixed charges amounting to Rs 50 per kilowatt have been imposed in the slab of 301 to 500, and above 500 units.
For the industrial sector, the rate has been revised in the category of supply at 11 kVAh from Rs 6.65 per kVAh (kilovolt-ampere hour) to Rs 6.95 per kVAh. Besides, the fixed charge in this category has been revised upward from Rs 165 per kva (kilovolt amperes) per month to Rs 290 per kva per month.
To support farmers, the tariff for the agriculture category having metered connection has been reduced by lowering the MMC from Rs 200 per BHP per year to Rs 180/144 per BHP per year, as per the load.
The HERC has reduced the revenue gap to Rs 3,262 crore from Rs 4,520 crore proposed for FY 2025-26.
The retail supply tariff schedule has been revised after seven years (FY 2017-18) and the hike has been effected due to erratic increase in fuel charges and other inflationary parameters.
Rs 5,000-cr burden on common man: Surjewala
Chandigarh: Reacting to the hike, Congress Rajya Sabha member Randeep Surjewala said the government had unleashed a back-breaking tariff hike of Rs 5,000 crore annually on people of Haryana.
Consumers were first burdened with 37 paisa per unit of fuel surcharge effective from January 16, 2025. Within three months, the government effected an unprecedented hike, he stated.
For consumers using tubewell power supply from 0 BHP to 15 BHP or more, the tariff had been hiked from the existing Rs 6.48 per unit to Rs 7.35 per unit.
Demanding an immediate rollback of the hike, he said the hike ran contrary to the zero-tax Budget 'jumla' of CM Nayab Singh Saini in a state where 2.10 crore people were in the BPL category.
