The electricity tariff for the next fiscal will be determined on the basis of the performance of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), Preman Dinaraj, chairman, Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) has said.
The commission on Saturday announced the revised tariff only for the 2022-23 fiscal, although the KSEB had submitted tariff proposals for the fiscals from 2022-23 to 2026-27 under the multi-year tariff (MYT) regime.
The commission will not permit inefficiency or wasteful expenditure on the part of the KSEB. In determining the tariffs for 2022-23, the commission had opted to soften the impact on smaller consumers, including domestic, agricultural, small industry, and government hospitals. ''The commission has not permitted any unjust hike in any of these categories,'' he said.
In arriving at a decision on the revision, the commission had taken numerous factors into consideration, including the COVID-19 scenario, inflation rates over the past three years and the opinions aired at the public hearings on the tariff petitions.
In all, 26 lakh consumers were exempted from a tariff hike, which included 25 lakh domestic consumers having a monthly consumption of up to 50 units, Mr. Dinaraj noted.