: In a relief to consumers, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Thursday withheld the current electricity tariff following the state government’s decision to continue with the same, including subsidies, emphasizing that sustainability for all sectors has been kept in mind as well as utility revenue needs.

A Venu Prasad, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said the Punjab government has decided to maintain the additional subsidy for charging up to 7 kilowatts. The previous government announced this subsidy on November 1, 2021.

He said the government had already informed the PSERC. The government has decided not to impose a burden on consumers and to continue with the same tariff, including subsidies, which is currently in force, including for consumers in the household and agricultural sector.

In accordance with the announcement of the previous Congress government, up to 100 consumption units (up to 2 kW), the electricity tariff will increase to ₹1.19 per unit from ₹4.19 per unit and for 101-300 units the price will be ₹4.01 and for more than 300 units, the power rate will be ₹5.76 per unit.

The PSERC on Thursday adopted the Tariff Orders based on Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) filed by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) for the financial year 2022-23, along with the tariffs / charges applicable for the 2022-23 financial year.

For the financial year 2022-23, the Commission has determined the ARR of PSPCL at Rs. 36237.65 crores which includes ARR for PSTCL of Rs. 1492.56 crores to be recovered through the tariff.

The expected net income from the advertised tariff is Rs. 36,149.60 crores after adjusting the net surplus carried over to the current year. The balance discrepancy of Rs. 88.05 crore is carried over to be adjusted at the time of determining the tariff for the financial year 2023-24.

In its orders, the commission said it was mindful of the interests of consumers being weighed against the utility’s revenue needs, bearing in mind its operational efficiency, commitments and growth.

The Commission is also aware that the State and the country are emerging from two years of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in considerable economic distress.

Thus, the sustainability of all sectors, especially the economically weaker sector, agriculture, commercial enterprises and industry, which is the largest consumer sector employing the maximum labor, has been kept. in mind while meeting the revenue needs of the utility, he said.

The commission has worked to achieve a viable revenue model for utilities without imposing an additional burden on consumers, according to the orders.