Power consumers may have to pay up to 110% more

The tariff revision proposed by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) envisages a hike ranging from 74 per cent to over 110 per cent for domestic consumers.

In the tariff revision application filed with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) on Thursday, the TANGEDCO has proposed a hike of 74 per cent for people consuming up to 200 units, 94 per cent for those consuming up to 500 units and 113 per cent for those consuming above 500 units.

Of the 1.40 crore domestic consumers in the State, 79 lakh consume less than 100 units and 30 lakh fall in the category consuming 101 to 200 units.

The tariff revision petition has also proposed drastic changes in the slab system for domestic consumers. The existing five-tier slab system will make way for a three-tier system, as per the tariff petition. A senior official of TANGEDCO said the number of slabs in the proposed tariff and the subsidy for domestic consumers has been reduced, so that domestic consumers would exercise economy.

Government subsidy, which is being enjoyed by all domestic consumers irrespective of the consumption, has been proposed to be reduced with no subsidy for those consuming more than 500 units.

While for customers consuming up to 200 units the rate per unit has been fixed at Rs. 2 with the government giving subsidy of 1 rupee, it will be fifty paise per unit for the next slab of 201 to 500 units, with the subsidy displayed in the bill of the consumer.

The production cost increases year after year. While the production cost is Rs. 5.31 per unit, the realisation is only Rs. 3.81 per unit. The gap of Rs. 1.50 per unit is proposed to be bridged by the proposed tariff revision covering all consumers, he added.