Though Delhi's Power Tarriff rates are to stay stagnant, the Electricity Bill may still reach exponential heights

The burden on the pockets of Delhites is going to get heavier as the electricity bill is most likely to elevate even though the tarrif rates remain unchanged. The electricity bill for the consumers is likelt to increment substantially from October 1. As per the press notice, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has raised the pension surcharge from 5 per cent to 7 per cent. This is the prior reason behind the increase.

The DERC, which is the Delhi's Power Regulatory Body stated, "After considering all the relevant factors, the Commission has come to the conclusion that there are no good reasons to make any increase in the existing tariff structure." However, it appears that there won't be any relief for the users as the price might still increase.

During the last fiscal year (2020-2021), the DERC did not hike electricity rates citing the Covid pandemic. In the new power tariff order, the regulatory body has encouraged "green power" by providing waiver of Service Line cum Development (SLD) and Network Augmentation charges for all renewable energy projects to developers under the Virtual & Group Net Metering mode. This is a welcome step in terms of fostering the environment and might be beneficial in the flight for climate change.

Though the final decision still awaits, Delhi''s power discoms - BRPL, BYPL and TPDDL - wrote in their petitions to the DERC before the tariff revision, where they demanded a hike, mentioning losses due to COVID-19. The final decision still lies in the hands of the DERC.