Ahead of retirement of its chairman Badri Narain Sharma scheduled on July 30, Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has approved hike in the fixed charges levied on electricity bills. The consumers will have to shell out extra money between Rs 20-55 per month. The existing fixed charges which ranged from Rs 100 to Rs 400 has been increased to Rs 150 to Rs 450 per month.
According to discom officials, this increase will not impact households which consume less than 100 units.
“Government gives free electricity upto 100 units. In that case, it (government) bears the fixed charge also. But those who consumes more than 100 units electricity, will have to burn hole in their pockets,” he said.
Last month, the commission has approved fuel surcharge of 54 paise per unit for households consuming more than 200 units electricity.
“For last five years, discoms are charging 7 paise per unit as fuel surcharge. Now with additional 54 paise, the surcharge has gone up to 61 paise per unit,” the official said.
The official said that the intention behind increasing the charges is to plug the widening losses of discoms.
“Discoms are running into heavy losses. Every year they approach us with proposals to reduce losses. This is a routine hike, nothing substantial,” he said.
Search on for new RERC chairman
B N Sharma, a 1985-batch officer was appointed as chairman of RERC in 2021 after he retired in 2019 as additional secretary in union finance ministry. His term is completing on July 30 as he attains the retiring age of 65 years fixed for the commission.
A post graduate in commerce, Sharma had a non controversial tenure. He will be remembered for his quick decision making.
The government had received as many as 30 applications for the post of chairman. Many senior retired IAS officers have applied for the post. However, the date has been extended to August 23, 2024. Earlier the deadline was June 28, 2024.
“The selection committee had held a meeting on July 24, 2024. It decided to extend one month's time for calling more applications through wider publicity for the purpose of recommending suitable panel of person,” the official said.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
