Hyderabad: While it might not seem that the new power tariff that has come into effect from April 1 in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will burden the consumer much, the reality is different.
The two Electricity Regulatory Commissions have stated that the hike will be 4.42 per cent for Telangana consumers and 5 per cent for Andhra Pradesh consumers.
However, one will have to pay a lot more once the consumption crosses the 100-unit and 200-unit threshold.
People who consume 100 units will have to pay a monthly bill of Rs 202.50, excluding other charges. But once it goes up to 101 units, the bill will be Rs 263.60 paisa, an extra Rs 61.50 for that single unit of extra consumption. Similarly, those who consume 200 units a month will get a bill for Rs 620. However, if the consumption touches 201 units, the bill becomes Rs 826.80. A difference of Rs 226.80 for consuming one extra unit.
This is more or less the same in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State as both states have announced that they will continue the telescopic system. Discom officials expressed their inability to do anything about the discrepancies in the power bills.
“We cannot do anything since the system is such. We experienced several flaws in the non-telescopic system in the past and people have to take care while using power,” a senior adviser to the Telangana Distribution Company said.
APERC as well as TSERC had announced that they would not touch tariffs of consumers using up to 200 units. The burden would fall on those consuming over 200 units, divided into eight sub-categories like first 50 units after 200 units, 51-100 units, 101-150 units etc. All these sub-categories have different tariff structures.
This quantum jump apart, discoms have other ways of charging more. Normally, the billing is supposed to be done for every 30 days. But this is usually not the case and the utilities send bills for consumption of 35 days to 40 days. They argue that the same will be adjusted in the next month’s bill. But if the power consumption goes beyond 200 units within these extra few days, the difference in the bill can be substantial.
Even a single day’s difference can mean Rs 203.20 extra, according to a study. Similarly, for those consuming below 100 units, and if the billing is not done promptly, the difference will be Rs 63.50. Lakhs of consumers in both states are being charged extra this way, according to observers.
The number of consumers who consume more than 200 units (domestic and commercial) in Telangana is 8 lakh whereas in AP the number is around 11 lakh.
In Hyderabad (GHMC limits) alone, the total number of domestic consumers who consume more than 200 units a month will be around 3.5 lakh.
“This is the reason why we have suggested time and again to ensure that the bill is adjusted to 30 days only. Let them take the reading whenever they want. It does not matter. But the bill should be adjusted for just 30 days every month. The extra days should not be counted. Only then will the consumer not lose anything,” Mr Kancherla Raghu, expert in power-related matters told DC.
