Where scorching heat has been making us sweat like hell, the growing electricity bills is equally giving us jitters.
Bringing some relief to Chandigarh, the electricity bills now will be less burdening. The UT electricity department has slashed a major charge levied in its bills by 18%.
The power authority has also turned down the electricity department’s proposal to hike power tariff. The fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) has been slashed for both domestic and commercial consumers.
For now, the change will be effective during the present financial quarter in the May 1 to July 31 billing cycle.
- The UT electricity department generates bills for domestic customers bimonthly.
- Domestic consumers are divided into four groups of 50,000 each and pay bills in six cycles a year.
- Bills of commercial consumers are generated every month.
- According to official records, there are 2.16 lakh electricity consumers, of which, 1.75 lakh fall in the domestic category.
- The department has regular billing of around 94% of consumers.
FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMERS:
| Units consumption | Earlier Rate (per unit) | Reduced Rate (per unit) |
| Between 0 and 150 units | 80p | 65p |
| 151 to 400 units | Rs 1.48 | Rs 1.21 |
| more than 400 units | Rs 1.56 | Rs 1.28 |
FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES:
| Units consumption | Earlier Rate (per unit) | Reduced Rate (per unit) |
| 0-150 units, | Rs 1.51 | Rs 1.24 |
| 151-400 units | Rs 1.68 | Rs 1.38 |
| above 400 units | Rs. 3.15 | Rs 2.58 |
Even consumers having large supply connections will be charged Rs 1.56, against Rs 1.91 per unit earlier. Those using small and medium supply connections will have to shell out Rs 1.30 and Rs 2.32 per unit, respectively .
About Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA)
- Fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA), a charge added on a per-unit basis to each power bill over and above the regular tariff.
- FPPCA charges are not levied in the agriculture category. The charge is the difference between per unit actual cost of power purchase and per unit approved cost of power purchase.
- Over the years, city residents have been objecting levying of FPPCA on grounds that the formula used to calculate it is complex. During public hearing session held by JERC in March, the residents had demanded to replace the same with a fixed surcharge. To address the problem, department has roped in NIELIT to develop a software for online calculation.
Source: Times of India