The public hearing for the tariff revision petition filed by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will be held on Monday (February 14) by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC).
The commission recently published the public hearing notice for the approval of Annual Performance Review and Annual Revenue Requirement for Escoms (electricity supply companies) as well as the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. Beginning on February 14, the hearings will be held for different Escoms, KPTCL and SEZs till February 28.
Bescom, in its application, has sought an average tariff hike of ₹1.58 per unit across the spectrum.
The KERC had approved an average increase in tariff by 30 paise per unit for all Escoms last year. This was an average increase of 3.84% as against the average increase of ₹1.35 per unit accounting for 17.31% of the increase sought by the Escoms. Though it was announced in June and came into effect for electricity consumed from the first meter reading date falling on or after April 1, the Commission, “to soften the burden on consumers” due to the pandemic, had directed for the arrears towards revision of tariff for April and May to be recovered during October and November respectively without charging any interest.
For the 2021-22 financial year, Bescom had sought an average hike of ₹1.39 per unit, while it was ₹1.96 per unit in the 2020-21 fiscal. KERC had approved a hike in tariff by an average 40 paise per unit in November 2020.
Though many sectors are yet to recover from the blow dealt by the pandemic, there may not be relief in sight as Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar, last month, had stated that a hike in power tariff was inevitable as implementation of development works in the sector needs additional funds.
