Polls on mind, UPPCL defers filing tariff revision proposal
Electoral politics has once again weighed heavy on economics. Though financially broke, the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) has not filed the electricity tariff revision proposal for 2017-18 — purportedly to avoid any electoral harm to the ruling Samajwadi Party.
But that does not mean people have escaped the possible tariff shock in the coming financial year. The corporation is gearing up to file the proposal after the elections though the delay will cause loss of additional revenue that may have accrued had the revised tariff come into effect from April 1.
The UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) had granted it the permission to file the annual revenue requirement (ARR) cum the tariff revision proposal by February 15 but the UPPCL has not filed one yet. Sources said the corporation would file the proposal only after the elections. The corporation has told the UPERC that it was taking time in filling the ARR since it had to file a multi-year tariff this time. “We need multiple data to be able to file the multi-year tariff and this is a huge task,” the corporation has told the UPERC.
Working on execution of the multi-year tariff for the first time, the UPERC had asked the UPPCL to file the futuristic ARR spelling out its estimated annual expenditures and revenue earnings for next five years in advance. Based on that the regulator will revise the tariff every year on time without waiting for the UPPCL to file an every year report and then vet the same for weeks.
The regulations require the UPPCL/discoms to file the tariff revision petition to the UPERC by November 30 every year for the new tariff to come into effect for the next financial year from April 1. From the date of admission of the petition, the commission takes at least 120 days to announce the new tariff.
“This means the new tariff for 2017-18 may not be applicable before July-August if the UPPCL files the proposal in March and the commission admits it the same month,” said sources.