Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Dec 14: Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), which is vested with the power to review electricity fares, has received proposals from all the electricity supply companies in the state, seeking a uniform hike of 80 paise per unit in electricity fare. Like in earlier years, KERC is set to invite objections from the general public, hold meetings to hear the grievances of the people, and then announce its decision on these proposals.

On December 8 this year, all the electricity supply companies had approached KERC , seeking its nod for raising electricity fare by 80 paise per unit towards narrowing the gap beetween income and expenditure. It may be recalled that during the last five years, electricity rate has gone up six times. During the last year, the fare hike sought was 66 paise per unit, but KERC had permitted hike of 32 paise per unit, after holding meetings and inviting objections and petitions from the public.

KERC had fixed November 30 as the last date for submission of electricity fare revision proposals. After the electricity supply companies sought extension of time, KERC had extended the deadline by 15 days. If the past trend is any indication, KERC is likely to permit electricity supply companies to hike fares by around 50 percent of the increase sought by them.