Maharashtra Power Tariff Hike: Consumers Will Have To Pay Up to Rs 300 Extra On Electricity Bills

In a major update, the residents of Maharashtra will now have to pay more for electricity bills from January 2024 in the wake of a hike in tariffs by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL).

As per the fresh notification, the power tariff has been hiked by 25 paise to 65 paise per unit through a fuel adjustment charge (FAC).

This implies that residential consumers will end up paying more than up to Rs 300 per month from this month. The decision has been taken on the grounds of an order issued by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).

In 2020, the MERC approved such a provision to recover the cost of expenditure and costly power purchase, thus prompting MSEDCL to charge a fuel adjustment charge on consumer bills from January 2024 onwards.

As per the approval received by the MERC, the state-owned power firm will charge the fuel adjustment charge on consumer bills declaring it the consumer category-wise FAC.

Power Tariff Hike in Maharashtra

The MSEDCL circular states that residential electricity consumers using up to 100 units of electricity will have to pay an extra 25 paise per unit, while consumers with 101 to 300 units will have to pay an extra 45 paise per unit.

Similarly, consumers with 301 to 500 units per month will have to pay extra Rs 60 paise per unit while those using more than 500 units will have to pay 65 paise per unit.

Apart from residential consumers, the rules have been also applied to small industries which will be required to pay an additional 30 paise to 40 paise per unit. Due to the heavy use of electricity in industry and business establishments, the hike might result in an extra burden of a few thousand rupees.

On the other hand, electric vehicle charging stations will also have to bear the hike in tariff and will be required to pay 40 paise per unit for usage.

he Municipal corporations will also fall under the same and thus will have to pay an extra Rs 40 paise per unit for the electricity used in the street lights.

A report in Hindustan Times quoted Pratap Hogade, the president of the state power consumer organisation, as saying that the hike was always on the cards however it still comes as a burden to consumers. He further hinted that there will be another hike in FAC for coal cost difference repayment.