Power tariff set to rise in West Bengal

Average tariff increased by 14 paise
Minimum monthly financial burden: Rs 4

Kolkata: People in the State will have to shell out more on power bills as the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) has approved the average tariff hike of Rs 3.49 per unit for West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and Rs 4.09 per unit for CESC consumers for the current fiscal.

After the hike, the average power tariff has risen by 14 paise (4.17 per cent) for WBSEDCL and 18.5 paise (4.7 per cent) for CESC consumers this fiscal compared to the previous one, WBERC sources said.

For the 2.3 million CESC consumers of Kolkata and Howrah, the hike is 15 paise for the first two slabs and 18 paise for the third in the domestic consumer category. For commercial consumers the average hike is 17 paise per unit and for the high-voltage consumers the average hike is 18 paise per unit.

Following the increased tariff, the minimum and maximum monthly financial burden will range between Rs 4 and Rs 82 for household use and Rs 4 and Rs 89 for commercial use for consumption of up to 500 units. Of the 23 lakh consumers of CESC, 15 lakh are household consumers and 2 lakh are commercial connections that consume upto 150 units. The tariff increase for those who consume 150 units will be Rs 24.

Power consumers in all the districts except Howrah will have to pay 12 paise higher in the first two slabs and the maximum hike is 15 paise. For commercial consumers, the average hike is 14 paise per unit for the first three slabs. For agriculture consumers, it is 10 paise for normal hours and 5 paise a unit for off-peak hours. For 132 KV and 33 KV industrial consumers, the hike is 11 paise and 16 paise a unit respectively, while the hike is 18 paise for 11 KV high voltage consumers. -- PTI

Printer friendly page