Hyderabad: Domestic electricity tariff is likely to increase from time to time similar to the prices of petrol and diesel from the financial year 2023. The Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) issued draft orders on Wednesday in which the electricity distribution company (Discom) has been given complete freedom to increase electricity bill tariff without seeking permission from the state government.
Following the orders issued by the Central Power Department, the State Electricity Control Board has issued ‘Second Amendment Orders 2022’. It has been clarified that the electricity tariff revision guidelines issued earlier have been revised for the second time.
Discom collects Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) once a year in the form of bills. Due to which more financial burden is being imposed on the public. Also, the central government has recently ordered the states to revise the electricity prices every month. Discoms buy electricity from Indian Energy Exchange on a daily basis at a price of around Rs 3 to Rs 12 per unit the load is collected through monthly bills.
ERC President Sri Ranga Rao said that it is necessary to issue amendment orders to implement said changes. This is important to know what FCA is. Many power stations purchase electricity from Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) on a daily basis to supply electricity to the general public. Accordingly, a fixed price is paid for each unit of electricity. This price is the amount use to pay for the purchase of coal, petrol, diesel and other raw materials required for the production of electricity in the thermal power station and for the salaries of the employees. Based on this cost, the power station determines the average cost per unit. If the cost increases here, FCA is allowed to charge 30 paise per unit every month from the general public through electricity bills. However, if it is more than 30 paisa per unit, it has been instructed to take permission from the commission first.
Until 30 November, the permission to revise the electricity tariff had to be taken from the state government and the proposal for increasing the electricity rates had to be submitted to the ERC.
