Another FSA punch is in the offing, this time for 1 a unit `

Consumers must brace themselves for yet another instalment of the unending series of FSA (fuel surcharge adjustment) being imposed on them.

Barely four days after the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission permitted power utilities to pass on a `609-crore burden to consumers, the four state discoms submitted a fresh FSA proposal for the fourth quarter of 2012-13. The proposal of all four discoms put together is for `1,137 crore, which will translate to an additional `1 per unit.

FSA instalments have

Discom officials had said at the time of proposing the tariff hike for 2012-13 that the additional costs of short-term purchases expected for 2013-2014 had been incorporated. As a result, no FSA is expected for the year 2013-2014. But the discoms have been maintaining a silence on this matter lately. In all probability, they will file FSA claims for the current financial year as well.

Consumer organisations are objecting to the FSA component of the free power supplied to the agricultural sector being passed on to other categories of consumers. But so far APERC has refused to correct this anomaly. hiked the electricity bills for all categories of consumers by 50 to 60 per cent.

Consumers are already paying two FSA instalments every month for a year now. Once cleared, the current FSA proposal will be billed after the collection of the FSA for the second and third quarters for 2012-2013 ends, in the last three months of the current financial year.