The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) on Monday announced that it has increased the power tariff by 6.8%. Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Preman Dinaraj, Chairman of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission announced that the revised rates will not be applicable to families that come under Below Poverty Line (BPL). It was also stated that cancer patients, polio patients, and people who are permanently disabled due to an accident will be given a reduction in Tariff.
According to the revised Tariff, domestic users who consume up to 50 units of power per month will have to pay an excess of Rs 18 onwards from today. The existing tariff for consuming up to 50 units of power was Rs 175 and the revised tariff as accepted by the regulatory commission is Rs 193. And users who consume up to 100 units of power per month will have to pay an added Rs 42 as the revised tariff has increased from Rs 345 per month to Rs 387, which is the accepted tariff by the regulatory commission.
As far as small scale industries are concerned, there is an increase of Rs 20 per month for consuming up to 10 kilowatts per month. The existing tariff of Rs 100 per month for consuming 10 kw has been increased to Rs 120 per month. For consuming more than 20 kw of power for small scale industries, there has been an increase of Rs 20. What was Rs 150 per month for consuming more than 20 kw, the tariff has increased to Rs 170 per month.
The increase in power tariff has not gone down well with the opposition with the opposition accusing the Kerala government of trying to loot the public by increasing the rates. Kerala Pradesh Congress (KPCC) president, Mullapally Radhakrishnan in a statement on Monday criticised the Pinarayi Vijayan lead state government and the Central government for trying to increase the burden on the public. “The increase in power tariff by Pinarayi Vijayan comes shortly after the Narendra Modi government during the budget announced the increase in petrol prices,” he said.
He went on to add that the Kerala government and the Centre are looting the public when majority of the people in the state are yet to recover from the devastating Kerala floods in August last year.