Udaipur : Preparations have been made to put an additional burden of 181.5 crores on 60 lakh electricity consumers of the state who are facing the brunt of power shortage and high rates. This amount will be additional to the fuel surcharge imposed in the past, which can be added to the electricity bills in the future. This amount was claimed by the power generation company Adani Power, which is the result of the evacuation facility charge imposed on the company by Coal India. An order has recently been issued by the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) on the petition of Adani Power Company.
The Electricity Appellate Tribunal has decided to make an additional payment of Rs 181.5 crore to Adani Power on behalf of the state’s electricity distribution corporations. In such a situation, this amount will be recovered from the electricity consumers by the electricity distribution corporations. Whereas, before this, the recovery of 54 paise per unit fuel surcharge has been started recently. However, the fuel surcharge being recovered till now is more than the rules. In such a situation, permission can be taken by the electricity distribution corporations to recover special fuel surcharge.
121.87 crore principal amount for a period of six years
59.68 crores added in the name of late fees
Decision to pay additional Rs 181.5 crore
Consumers in the state
There are 1.40 crore total consumers in the state
80 lakh domestic-agricultural consumers
60 lakh industrial and commercial
Adani Power Company filed a petition before RERC in 2018 to recover the additional amount. The commission rejected the petition on 8 February 2019. Against this, the company appealed in the Electricity Appellate Tribunal, Delhi. On this, the tribunal gave a decision in favor of the company. On this basis, the company again filed a petition in RERC.
This is the reason for recovery
The order for recovery has been given on a petition filed by Adani Power. This additional amount was demanded by Coal India Ltd. in the name of change in the law on levying evacuation facility charge on extraction of coal from their mines.
