The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has allowed the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to continue collecting 9 paise per unit as surcharge on consumers’ electricity bills in December.
This levy is meant to help the KSEB recoup “part of the unrecovered fuel surcharge” from the April-July 2024 period, the commission said in an interim order. The KSEB had in fact sought to impose 17 paise per unit as surcharge for recovering pending fuel surcharge of ₹37.70 crore, but the commission did not allow this in full.
However, the surcharge of 9 paise per unit will be over and above the monthly surcharge collected by KSEB via the automatic recovery route as permitted by the commission’s Terms and Conditions for Determination of Tariff (first amendment) Regulations, 2023, the interim order said.
Maximum amount set
Whether the KSEB should be allowed to collect any surcharge over and above the automatic cost recovery mechanism from January 1, 2025, will be decided by the commission after examining the fuel surcharge collected from consumers during from July-November this year and after stakeholder consultations.
From June 2023, the KSEB has been recovering fuel surcharge through an automatic recovery mechanism as permitted by the 2023 regulations. To avoid tariff shock, the commission has set 10 paise per unit as the maximum monthly surcharge amount that can be collected under it. If the KSEB has pending surcharge amount to be recovered even after the automatic recovery, it can approach the commission for “adjusting” the outstanding fuel surcharge from the consumers. The KSEB had sought to impose 17 paise surcharge using this provision.
Published – November 30, 2024 06:38 pm IST
