Get ready to pay bigger electricity bills as the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Monday announced an average increase of 13 paise per unit in tariff with immediate effect. While domestic consumers will have to pay 10 paise more per unit, industrial and commercial consumers will now pay 20 paise more per unit.
In other words, if your bill is currently Rs 500, you will pay approximately Rs 550; if it is Rs 5,000, you will pay about Rs 5,500. The hike is, however, smaller than demanded by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) and other state power utilities, which had asked for a 73 paise per unit increase in tariff.
“Of the 195 lakh consumers in the state, 141.52 lakh, including domestic consumers in both urban and rural areas and farmers with IP sets of more than 10HP will now pay 10 paise more per unit and 24 lakh, including industries and commercial installations, 20 paise more per unit,”explained KERC chairman, M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy. The commission has also introduced the much talked about Time of the Day (ToD) tariff for industries to discourage consumption of electricity during the peak hours.