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Commercial and industrial electricity consumers in the national capital have much to cheer with the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) halving fixed charges for unutilised capacity during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Electricity bills raised during April and May 2020 had become a major issue for commercial and industrial consumers as they were hit by exorbitant charges on provisional bills while their businesses were shut.
After the DERC order on Monday, the fixed charges for Industrial and Non-domestic (commercial) consumers has come down by half to ₹125 per Kilo-volt-amperes (kVA) per month. The lowered fixed charge will be applicable for unutilised capacity during April 2020 and May 2020.
A DERC order said that the excess amount that has been collected now will be adjusted in subsequent two billing cycles from Monday onwards.
DERC also observed that during the lockdown period till May 30, majority of Non-Domestic (commercial and others), and industrial consumers did not use the full capacity contracted by them. But the Fixed Charges were billed to them based on the contracted capacity.
“The Commission is of the view that in order to avoid hardships to such consumers, the Fixed Charges for the unutilised capacity (Contract Demand – Maximum Demand) during April 2020 and May 2020 for eligible Industrial and Non-domestic consumers may be billed at reduced rate,” the order said.
DERC said that consumers whose monthly Maximum Demand is less than the Contract Demand or Sanctioned Load, the Billing Demand for computation of Fixed Charges for such consumers shall be split into two parts.
In the first part, fixed charges for Billing Demand up to the Maximum Demand shall be billed as per existing rate of ₹250 per kVA per month. In the second part, Fixed Charges for remaining Billing Demand (Contract Demand or Sanctioned Load minus Maximum Demand) shall be billed at 50 per cent of existing rate at ₹125 per kVA per month.
This reduction follows sustained demands from industry bodies and political quarters to bring down fixed costs for commercial consumers during the Covid-19 lockdown periods.
BusinessLine had reported in May this year that pressure was building on the Delhi government from across the political spectrum to give relief to consumers who have got huge electricity bills on account of unmetered billing.
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