At a time when power tariffs in the State are up for a revision, it appears that the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has not made much headway in collecting the arrears on electricity bills despite clear directives of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission when tariffs were last hiked in June 2022.
Power bill arrears have, in fact, mounted to a whopping ₹3,260.09 crore as on March 31, show the quarterly statement on arrears of low tension (LT) and high tension (HT) electricity consumers released by the KSEB.
They have, in fact, increased from ₹2,778.89 crore on March 31, 2022 and ₹3030.53 crore on December 31, 2022.
As per the latest data (as on March 31, 2023), private institutions owe the KSEB ₹962.65 crore and domestic consumers ₹272.87 crore. State public sector undertakings (PSU) owe ₹1,646.08 crore and government departments ₹135.61 crore. Central PSUs are in arrears to the tune of ₹94.15 crore and Central government departments ₹2.12 crore. Local bodies in the State owe the KSEB ₹7.72 crore and public institutions ₹58.92 crore.
Power bill dues of the Kerala Water Authority, which continues to be the single biggest defaulter, have risen to ₹1,472.74 crore. Of the total ₹3,260.09 crore in arrears, only ₹408.69 crore is tied up in disputes and litigation.
At the public hearings on the previous power tariff revision in 2022, many consumers had urged the regulatory commission not to approve a tariff hike unless the KSEB collected the arrears. At the time, the commission itself had observed that ‘‘It is a fact that the accumulation of arrears will adversely impact the cash flow of KSEB Ltd”.
At the time, the commission had also passed orders requiring the KSEB to ‘‘propose a time-bound action plan with quarterly recovery targets and entrust this responsibility with identified teams”.
Replying to questions in the Assembly in February this year, Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty had said various measures, including revenue recovery, disconnections and one-time settlement schemes, had been initiated to collect the arrears.
