Octroi goes on consumption of electricity

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, July 12

The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has announced the abolition of octroi on electricity from July 1, 2017, after the levy of goods and services tax (GST) in the state of Punjab.

A commercial circular (no 28/2017) issued from the PSPCL headquarters by the Chief Engineer/Commercial says that the octroi in various cities and towns under the jurisdiction of municipal corporations, municipal committees, municipal councils, nagar panchayats and notified area committees in Punjab, which was levied on all categories of consumers (except agricultural customers) at the rate of 10 paisa per unit on the consumption and sale of electricity, stands abolished with effect from July 1, 2017.

Sources in the Punjab State Power Corporation revealed that for the time being, no additional levy in place of octroi would be charged from the consumers, while electricity duty, already being charged as per the prevailing tariff order approved by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, would remain in place.

In other words, consumers would have to pay 10 paisa less for every unit of power consumed by them till the government decides to impose some other levy to cover the loss of revenue caused by the abolition of octroi.