Inflated bills for 3 months FSA runs into Rs 1,700-crore Consumers who use between 150-200 units a month will be charged Rs 200 to Rs 300 more APERC has approved the collection of an additional Rs 1.32 per unit over the existing charges
Power consumers will get much higher power bills from November to January, as the AP State Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has approved collection of another Rs 1,740.20 crore from consumers towards Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA) for the first quarter of 201213 (April to June).
Household consumers will have to pay an extra Rs 200 to Rs 300 for consuming up to 150-200 units per month as APERC has approved an additional Rs 1.32 per unit over the existing charges. The FSA will be adjusted for three months during November, December and January.
The fresh approval has come as a blow to consumers who are already reeling under high bills since September this year due to collection of previous FSA arrears of Rs 6,025.4 crore for 2010-11 and 201112. The four discoms had recently submitted fresh proposals to APERC to collect another Rs 980 crore in FSA charges from 2.2 crore electricity consumers in AP for the second quarter of this year (July to September). APERC will conduct a public hearing on this issue shortly. If it gives the nod, consumers will have to pay FSA arrears from February to April 2014. Besides this, the discoms had also approached the Supreme Court for permission to collect Rs 3,038.82 crore FSA for 2008-09 and 2009-10 after the AP High Court stayed the proposal. Out of Rs 1,740 crore in FSAs, Rs 817 crore will be collected by APCPDCL, Rs 344.48 crore by EPDCL, Rs 188.62 crore by NPDCL and Rs 389.97 crore by SPDCL.