New Delhi, June 13: Electricity bill in Delhi is going to increase if the consumption is more than 500 units as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has allowed power distribution companies to recover a higher Power Purchase Adjustment Charge (PPAC).
It will mainly affect consumers who are not covered under the Delhi government’s electricity subsidy schemes.
Consumers receiving either full or 50 per cent subsidy will not face any additional burden, according to the government.
“There is a provision under the law to increase PPAC. Therefore, DERC has approved the increase. Fuel prices have risen because of the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, and that has increased costs for power companies,” Delhi Power Minister Ashish Sood said.
Till March this year, Delhi’s fuel and power purchase adjustment charge was imposed on a quarterly basis.
However, from the April billing cycle, DERC has shifted to a monthly review and recovery mechanism.
This is the first such monthly order issued by the regulator.
Under the new order, power distribution companies will be allowed to recover a larger share of the additional costs incurred while purchasing electricity.
According to Sood, the PPAC being recovered from consumers was around 14.5 per cent earlier and has now increased to 17.9 per cent, translating into an increase of about 3.4 percentage points.
Implications
The biggest impact is expected on consumers who are outside the subsidy framework and those with higher electricity consumption.
Officials said households receiving electricity subsidies from the Delhi government will continue to get the benefit because the subsidy is linked to units consumed rather than the bill amount.
As a result, consumers receiving full or 50 per cent subsidy are unlikely to see any impact from the latest PPAC revision.
However, households consuming more than 500 units of electricity a month could see higher bills depending on their usage and applicable surcharge.
Reason
There are three power distribution companies (Discoms) in Delhi — BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL).
All these privately-owned companies approached DERC, a nodal body responsible for overseeing power-related matters in the capital.
These companies sought relaxation from the existing 10 per cent cap on fuel and power purchase adjustment surcharge recovery.
According to the regulator’s order, the FPPAS for April stood at 31.5 per cent for BRPL, 35.26 per cent for BYPL and 16 per cent for TPDDL.
DERC, however, did not permit full recovery. Instead, it allowed BRPL to recover an additional 7.94 per cent surcharge and BYPL an additional 7.43 per cent surcharge. TPDDL was allowed to recover the full 16 per cent FPPAS.
As a result, the total surcharge permitted for recovery now stands at 17.94 per cent for BRPL, 17.43 per cent for BYPL and 16 per cent for TPDDL.
The regulator said the relaxation was intended to help power companies recover a reasonable portion of the increase in electricity purchase costs.
How Long?
The DERC has clarified that the relaxation will continue on a month-to-month basis until further orders.
The regulator has also allowed unrecovered surcharge amounts from previous months to be recovered gradually in future billing cycles, subject to the prescribed limits.
The decision has effectively introduced a new monthly review system for power purchase cost recovery in Delhi, making future electricity bills more closely linked to fluctuations in fuel and electricity procurement costs. (NVI)
