Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission has announced that there will be a 9.33 percent rise in electricity rates, beginning from year 2017-2018. The raise in the rates will be soon be put into motion, taking effect on 1 April this year. PSERC Chairperson Kusumjit Sindhu, has, however made a point that the increase in the rates will be taken from the people via instalments, over nine months. Sindhu has further commented that the rise is required to cover the revenue gap for the year 2017-2018, and that is why they have decided upon the 9.33 increase on the rates.
The rise in the rates will also affect commercial customers, as those managing showrooms, shops etc will now have to pay up to 10% in power tariff, while the Industrial sector is also likely to pay the same amount.
Sindhu stated that there will be some relief given to the sectors in the face of the rate hike, and said the surcharge for continuous process industry has ended, and Time of Day (TOD) rebate at night has risen from Re 1 per kilo volt ampere hours to Rs 1.25 per kVah.
It is yet to be seen that how this change in the rates will effect the industry but it seems that additional steps have been taken to make sure that the parties don’t suffer only losses.
