Power tariff hike put on hold

• Bifurcation process puts brakes on govt move
• APERC apprehensive of legal complications

Hyderabad: Thanks to the completion of bifurcation process by the Parliament, the power consumers in both Telangana and Seemandhra regions can heave a sigh of relief this year.

The State government and the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) have put on hold the proposal to hike power tariffs for the year 2014-15.

Lack of clarity on power sharing between the Telangana and the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh in the Telangana Bill and prevailing political uncertainty in the State have forced the government to reportedly give up its plans to hike the power tariff for the ensuing financial year.

The four DISCOMS ( APCPDCL, SPDCL, EPDCL and NPDCL) recently sought the APERC permission to collect Rs 9,339 crore as additional tariff from consumers in 2014-15 . The power utilities proposed to increase the power tariff for domestic sector by 50 paise per unit for the consumers below the 150 unit slabs and Rs 1 hike for higher slabs.

The officials of the Energy department told The Hans India that the endorsement of the bifurcation of State in the Parliament left the government in the dark as to what steps to be taken towards increasing the power tariff. The Telangana Bill did not give clarity on the purchase of power and the quantum of power required by the two the states after the bifurcation. Hiking the power tariff would invite new problems in the crucial period. On the other hand, any care-taker government cannot be expected to put such a burden on consumers in view of the General Elections which are round the corner, he added.

APERC Secretary MD Manohar Raju said that in the T Bill, it was mentioned that the Commission, as a statutory body, would remain a single entity in the two states for one year after the bifurcation. The Commission has every authority to approve the tariffs even in the two States. But, the cost variations in power purchase and consumption pattern would change once the State is divided. Taking into these two important factors into consideration, the only option before the Commission is that it should take a decision on the tariff hike at an appropriate time after taking legal advice. The official also said that the Commission had completed the public hearing on tariff proposals recently. A majority of the petitioners challenged the hike in power tariff, citing the ongoing bifurcation of the State.

The major challenge before the APERC is to respond to all such petitions before approving the hiked tariff, he added.

As per the official process, the Commission should notify the tariff hike one week before the beginning of the new financial year from April 1. After the notification is issued, the government can announce the tariff hike officially.