Thiruvananthapuram: The order of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) fixing the power tariff for the next four years will be issued within a month.
The collection of evidence by the commission in this regard has been completed. At the final round of evidence collection that was conducted here on Tuesday, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) did not demand any more changes in the tariff petition that was submitted earlier recommending increase in the electricity rates.
The commission has granted the board time till Friday to file its response to the points raised by the representatives of electricity consumers. The commission will issue its order after taking this too into consideration.
At the sessions conducted by the commission in Kozhikode, Palakkad, and Kochi, the KSEB had requested changes in the rates suggested earlier. The commission had directed the board that if any further changes are to be made, the demand could be made during the sitting conducted in Thiruvananthapuram.
Consumers from the industrial and domestic sectors had demanded that there should be no increase in the rates in view of the financial difficulties post the Covid pandemic.
Many of the demands made at the final round were repetitions of those that were raised in the three earlier centres of sitting. The commission will assess the expected revenue and expenditure of the board for the next four years and arrive at the revenue deficit. The increase in the tariff will be decided in proportion to the amount required to bridge this gap. They need not necessarily be the same rates as demanded by the board.
However, even if the commission does not sanction a significant increase in the rates, the board can charge additional amounts from the consumers under the head of surcharge. This does not require the prior permission of the commission. The board only needs to get it approved once a year after the surcharge is collected.
