UPPCL’s regulatory surcharge proposal meets stiff oppn

LUCKNOW : UP Power Corporation Ltd’s (UPPCL) proposal seeking levy of regulatory surcharge on consumers to make up for its deficit met a stiff opposition in the public hearing held here on Monday by UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) to know various stakeholders’ views on the corporation’s annual revenue requirement (ARR) petition before announcing the tariff order for 2021-22.

Consumers also opposed the proposal for changes in the existing tariff slabs arguing that doing so would automatically increase per unit rates of electricity for consumers under various categories.

The UPERC may announce new tariff by the month end after holding two more hearings. No direct tariff increase is expected though the UPPCL has sought tariff revision through backdoor like one by proposing reintroduction of the regulatory surcharge system that the commission had abolished two years ago and changes in the tariff slabs.

Raising the regulatory surcharge issue, UP Rajya Vidyut

Upbhokta Parishad Avadhesh Kumar Verma said the proposal was illegal and demanded the UPERC to reject the same. He said the UPPCL had proposed regulatory surcharge because he had been demanding the commission to reduce the power tariff since the UPPCL had overcharged Rs 19,537 crore since 2000 as also admitted by the UPERC.

He said the power tariff for urban and rural consumers had gone up by 84% and 500% respectively during the last nine years. Verma also questioned the discoms’ proposal for change in tariff slabs on the ground that the UPERC rejected similar proposal last year. He claimed that discoms had projected their annual expenditures on a higher side to get tariff increase, though indirectly.

Other consumers Sourabh Srivastav and Yogesh Agrawal suggested that cross-subsidy should not be increased and regulatory surcharge should not be levied. Dheeraj Khullar demanded a package for industries Bundelkhand. Manoj Kumar Gupta demanded lowering of rates of prepaid meters while representatives of Delhi Metro demanded reduction in power tariff for metro in UP.