Karnataka: Amid free electricity scheme, Bengaluru citizens face unusually high bills, says report
Electricity got costlier after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission approved electricity supply companies’ proposals. As per a May 12 tariff order, a hike of 70 paise per unit was levied in June. Besides this, arrears of 70 paise per unit pertaining to April were also added to the bills in June.
- Jun 17, 2023,
- Updated Jun 19, 2023 1:08 PM IST
Ahead of the adoption of the Gruha Jyoti scheme from July 1, many consumers said that they have received unusually high bills as the electricity regulatory commission levied a 70-paise tariff rise and allowed fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) charges to be levied from July to December.
Many consumers reported that there was an unusual spike in electricity bills for the month of June, a report in the Indian Express stated.
While some consumers said the bill amount had gone up by 21 per cent, some reported that 60 per cent rise in their electricity bills.
Electricity got costlier after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission approved electricity supply companies’ proposals. As per a May 12 tariff order, a hike of 70 paise per unit was levied in June.
Besides this, arrears of 70 paise per unit pertaining to April were also added to the bills in June.
Consequently, the FPPCA charge of Rs 1.49 per unit was also levied in June and Rs 1.81 per unit is carried forward to July. Thus, there will be an overall hike in tariff for June by Rs 2.89/ unit.
Issuing a clarification on the same, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) said the June bills appeared higher, but the bill amount in the coming months will be relatively less.
While a few residents reported a hike in the bills, some Bengaluru residents were puzzled about receiving a negative monthly electricity bill. While there are protests across the city due to high electricity bills, a few said they got negative bills ranging from -500 to -4,500, a report in the Times of India stated.
Bescom officials have said that the negative bills were generated due to a software error in the system. A senior Bescom official quoted in the report said the bills were generated for the current month using the revised rates established by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC).
However, due to inadequate updates to the billing software, it employed outdated calculations, leading to the emergence of negative amounts.
Siddaramaiah government’s Gruha Jyoti scheme
Gruha Jyoti scheme is one of the five poll guarantees that the Congress party had proposed in its election manifesto.
Earlier this month, the newly appointed Karnataka government led by Siddaramaiah issued detailed guidelines for the implementation of the Gruha Jyothi scheme, under which free electricity below 200 units every month will be distributed to all households. It will be implemented from July 1.
The recent guidelines have been issued by the Karnataka Energy Department, under which, it noted that the free power supply will be dependent on the monthly average consumption of a household and will be capped at 200 units.
The average will be calculated by the electricity supply companies, based on the power consumed by the households in 2022-23.
Besides, the state government has said that existing power supply schemes for the poor, such as Bhagya Jyothi and Kuteera Jyothi, will be merged under the new scheme.
The government has deferred the registration process for the Gruha Jyoti scheme from June 15 to June 18 citing technical reasons.
Consumers have been given a three-month period to pay pending bills for power used till June 30.
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Ahead of the adoption of the Gruha Jyoti scheme from July 1, many consumers said that they have received unusually high bills as the electricity regulatory commission levied a 70-paise tariff rise and allowed fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA) charges to be levied from July to December.
Many consumers reported that there was an unusual spike in electricity bills for the month of June, a report in the Indian Express stated.
While some consumers said the bill amount had gone up by 21 per cent, some reported that 60 per cent rise in their electricity bills.
Electricity got costlier after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission approved electricity supply companies’ proposals. As per a May 12 tariff order, a hike of 70 paise per unit was levied in June.
Besides this, arrears of 70 paise per unit pertaining to April were also added to the bills in June.
Consequently, the FPPCA charge of Rs 1.49 per unit was also levied in June and Rs 1.81 per unit is carried forward to July. Thus, there will be an overall hike in tariff for June by Rs 2.89/ unit.
Issuing a clarification on the same, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) said the June bills appeared higher, but the bill amount in the coming months will be relatively less.
While a few residents reported a hike in the bills, some Bengaluru residents were puzzled about receiving a negative monthly electricity bill. While there are protests across the city due to high electricity bills, a few said they got negative bills ranging from -500 to -4,500, a report in the Times of India stated.
Bescom officials have said that the negative bills were generated due to a software error in the system. A senior Bescom official quoted in the report said the bills were generated for the current month using the revised rates established by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC).
However, due to inadequate updates to the billing software, it employed outdated calculations, leading to the emergence of negative amounts.
Siddaramaiah government’s Gruha Jyoti scheme
Gruha Jyoti scheme is one of the five poll guarantees that the Congress party had proposed in its election manifesto.
Earlier this month, the newly appointed Karnataka government led by Siddaramaiah issued detailed guidelines for the implementation of the Gruha Jyothi scheme, under which free electricity below 200 units every month will be distributed to all households. It will be implemented from July 1.
The recent guidelines have been issued by the Karnataka Energy Department, under which, it noted that the free power supply will be dependent on the monthly average consumption of a household and will be capped at 200 units.
The average will be calculated by the electricity supply companies, based on the power consumed by the households in 2022-23.
Besides, the state government has said that existing power supply schemes for the poor, such as Bhagya Jyothi and Kuteera Jyothi, will be merged under the new scheme.
The government has deferred the registration process for the Gruha Jyoti scheme from June 15 to June 18 citing technical reasons.
Consumers have been given a three-month period to pay pending bills for power used till June 30.
Watch: Alia Bhatt to Ananya Panday, AI re-imagines Bollywood stars as kids; Sonam Kapoor reacts
Also watch: Top stocks of the week: Brightcom Group, Mazagon Dock, Tanla Platforms, Paytm, HEG, others
Also Watch: Hot stocks for next week: Tata Steel, HUL, Raymond, Polycab India and more stocks in focus