Power Tariffs to Remain Unchanged in Delhi for 2020-21: DERC

DERC has come up good for millions of consumers in Delhi after it announced that there would be no power tariffs hike in 2020-21 in view of the pandemic.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has come up good for the millions of consumers in the National Capital after it announced that there would be no hike in power Tariffs in Delhi for 2020-21 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new tariff order will come into effect on September 1, 2020.

“No tariff hike has been done by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Authority (DERC) for the year 2020-21 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic,” chairman of the panel Justice (retired) S S Chauhan said. The same prices as were announced in previous tariff revision have been maintained in view of the pandemic. “Needs and demands of the power Discoms have also been considered as far as possible,” he said.

As per the new tariff order which will come into effect on September 1, 2020, the 20 percent surcharge under time of day (ToD) tariff has also been waived off the commission for the month of September. This, as the order explains, has been done to facilitate non-domestic, industrial, public utilities and domestic consumers due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

Furthermore, to promote pollution-free transportation and a clean environment, the Commission has decided to continue with the subsidised tariff rates for the e-rickshaw and electric vehicle category.

DERC in its previous tariff revision last year had significantly brought down fixed charges for domestic consumers while raising variable energy charges for certain categories of consumers. As per the 2019-20 rates, the fixed charges for domestic category up to 2 kilowatts (kW) were reduced from Rs 125 to Rs 20, while the charges above 2 kW but less than 5 kW were slashed from Rs 140 to Rs 50. The fixed charges for more than 5 kW and less than 15 kW were reduced from Rs 175 to Rs 100.

The energy charges in the domestic category for those who consumed above 1,200 units were raised from Rs 7.75 per unit to Rs 8 per unit. The same charges as those in 2019-20 will prevail in 2020-21.

As per the DERC statement, the 8 percent surcharge for recovery of the accumulated deficit of the Discoms has been kept unchanged by the Commission.

The power tariff in Delhi has not witnessed any major increase since the AAP came to power in 2015. The ruling party leaders have been claiming that the electricity rates in the city are “cheapest” in the country.