Tax shock: Power bills in urban areas to go up by 2% ›

The power utilities sell power worth ₹25,000 crore a year, of which the free supply to farming sector is ₹7,000 crore that the government pays. Billing in urban areas is ₹12,000 crore or more, thus the department will fetch anywhere between ₹250 crore to 300 crore. A POWER ENGINEER

PATIALA: Even as the Punjab cabinet on Monday announced subsidised electricity tariff for industry at ₹5 a unit from November 1, the state government also notified levying of municipal tax at 2% on consumption, use or sale of electricity in urban areas from that date.

This means if your bill is ₹2,500, the tax will add ₹50 to it.

After coming to power in March, the Congress government presented a no-new-tax budget in June, and even the octroi on electricity, which was 10 paise a unit, was abolished. That octroi used to fetch the local bodies department ₹120 crore annually.

Now, the department — headed by cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu — may get up to ₹300 crore a year from this tax. Here’s how. The power utilities sell power worth ₹25,000 crore a year, of which the free supply to farming sector is ₹7,000 crore that the government pays.

“Billing in urban areas is ₹12,000 crore or more, thus the department will fetch anywhere between ₹250 crore to 300 crore,” said a power engineer.

Additional chief secretary, local bodies, Satish Chandra claimed that the burden will not be more than the ₹120 which the now-abolished octroi used to fetch.

It must be underlined here that the urban voter was seen as a game-changer for the Congress as it registered a massive win in the assembly polls early this year against new challenger Aam Aadmi Party and the SAD-BJP alliance.

The notification was issued exercising powers under section 62(A)(1) of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911.