Delhi Residents Will Now Have To Pay More For Power

[timmy]

The residents of Delhi, who have been battling frequent power-cuts, will now have to pay more for the electricity they consume.

The three distribution companies (Discoms) have been allowed to raise power tariff by 8.32 per cent. Residents of Lutyen's zone will have to pay more, as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, power regulator for the capital, recommended a 9.52 per cent hike in the rates in areas falling under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

According to the new rates recommended by the power regulator, those consuming upto 200 units in a month will have to pay 10 paise more per unit, those availing of 200-400 units will have to pay 15 paise more per unit, and those using 400-800 units will have to dish out 50 paise more per unit.

A new slab of 800-1200 units has been created, and those consuming power in this range will have to pay Rs. 1.10 more per unit. Residents who end up using more than 1200 units will have to pay Rs. 1.75 paise more per unit.

The impact of the increase in power tariff, however, will be felt differentially by the consumers, claims DERC chairman P D Sudhakar.  The power purchase adjustment cost (PPAC) surcharge,  which was introduced in 2012 to enable the discoms to overcome the burden of the cost of the power bought by them from public utilities such as the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), has been discontinued, minimizing the impact of the hike on minor consumers

Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, or the AAP, which has been campaigning for a reduction in power tariff, tore into the power regulator's recommendations in a series of tweets. 

"Electricity prices in Delhi hiked by 8.32% despite of pending CAG audit. Why is CAG audit not being supported by the power discoms?" said one of them. "AAP had reduced power tarrifs by 50%. BJP promised 30% but backtracked on that too!," pointed out another.

The BJP, however, said it stood by its promise of reducing power tariff if it came to power in Delhi. "We will cut rates by 30%. That's our commitment," said senior leader Jagdish Mukhi, who's the frontrunner for the chief minister's post. "Good days will come. We have requested the Union Finance Minister. Just wait for the Delhi Budget," he added.