AAP govt in Punjab hikes power tariff

Two days after the ruling AAP secured a landslide victory in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll, the government increased electricity tariff for all categories of consumers. The Opposition Congress and the SAD slammed the move, saying it was the AAP government’s “first gift” to people after it won the by-poll. The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) announced an increase of 8.64 per cent in tariff for this year. Fixed charges as well as per unit tariff have been increased, taking the average cost of power to Rs 7.04 per unit, up from Rs 6.48 per unit last year. The tariff has been increased after three years. Domestic consumers, who will continue to get 300 units of free power each month, will have to pay Rs 15 per kilowatt as additional fixed charges and an average of 65 paisa per unit hike. The commercial consumers will have to pay additional Rs 25-30 as fixed charges and bear a hike of 47 paisa average per unit rate.