New Delhi: To ease the burden arisen due to the coronavirus pandemic on industrial and commercial consumers, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Monday directed the distribution companies to slash the fixed charges by 50 per cent for unutilised capacity for April and May.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Delhi government stands with the people of Delhi in this hour of crisis. This relief in fixed charges will help lakhs of people to face hardships caused by coronavirus,”
The DERC in its order stated, “The Commission observed that during lockdown period till 30/05/2020, majority of Non-Domestic (Commercial etc.) and Industrial Consumers did not use their system to the contracted capacity.
However, the Fixed Charges at the applicable rate have been billed to them based on the Billing Demand, as per DERC (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, 2017.”
“The fixed charges for unutilized capacity for April 2020 and May 2020 (Contract Demand/Sanctioned Load - MDI) for eligible Industrial and Non- domestic (Commercial etc.) consumers shall be billed at reduced rate of Rs.125/kVA/month as against existing rate of Rs.250/kVA/month,” it further read.
The changes in the fixed charges will be adjusted in the next two billing cycles by the dicoms in the national capital. The present discoms are BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).
The idea behind the slashing of fixed charges was the lesser consumption during the lockdown period. The order stated that the fixed charges will be split into two parts, whose monthly Maximum Demand was less than the Contract Demand/Sanctioned Load.
“Fixed charges for billing demand up to Maximum Demand shall be billed as per existing rate of Rs 250/KVA/month; fixed charges for remaining billing demand (Contract Demand/Sanctioned Load minus Maximum Demand) shall be billed at 50 per cent of existing rate of Rs 125/KVA/month,” the order said.
