The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has issued orders specifying a new billing method for aided educational institutions that conduct self-financing courses on their premises.
Energy used for aided courses and self financing courses would be billed separately at the applicable fixed and energy charges under LT-VI(A) general tariff and LT-VI(F) general tariff respectively, a KSEB circular issued on Monday said.
LT-VI(A) tariffs are applicable to government or aided educational institutions, whereas self-financing educations institutions are billed under LT-VI(F) rates.
In such cases, the aided educational institutions would be required to conduct the self-financing courses in a separate building inside the premise or at least in a separate floor, the order said.
The aided educational institutions would have to get separate Low Tension (LT) connection by segregating the load of the premises where the self-financing course was being conducted, the order added.
If the institution avails itself of High Tension (HT) supply, the consumption of the self-financing courses should be separately billed at the applicable LT rate. The KSEB circular is based on a decision taken by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission as part of the interim tariff orders for the State applicable for an eight-month period from November 1 this year.
Following a request by consumers’ groups, the commission had recommended load segregation and separate billing for electricity usage in aided educational institutions, which also operate self-financing courses on their premises.