Madhya Pradesh: Electricity bills to rise as 2.64% hike comes into effect

The 2.64 per cent hike in electricity rates that was cleared by the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPERC) on March 31 has come into effect, officials said on Sunday. The three power distribution companies (discoms) had, incidentally, sought an 8.71 per cent hike to tide over revenue deficit, MPERC secretary Gajendra Tiwari told PTI.

"The mandatory public notices were issued on April 1 by the discoms, and after seven days of such publication of notices in newspapers etc, the hike is deemed to have come into effect. In this case, it has come into effect from April 8," he explained.

The date of the hike coming into effect was confirmed by Pankaj Swamy, Public Relations Officer of MP Power Management Company, which is the holding company of the three discoms.

As per the new tariff plan post the hike, a consumer using up to 30 units of electricity per month will have to pay Rs 3.34 per unit against Rs 3.25 earlier, while those in the 32-50, 51-150 and 151-300 unit slabs will also have to pay more.

"A consumer who uses more than 300 units a month will have to pay Rs 6.74 per per unit, against Rs 6.65 earlier. There is no hike in rates for Low Tension (LT) industrial category consumers," Tiwari said.

There are around 1.66 crore electricity consumers in Madhya Pradesh.