Kerala State Electricity Board seeks approval for imposing 17 paise per unit as fuel surcharge

KSEB says ₹37.70 crore still remains to be recovered for the billing period from April 2024 to July 2024, files petition before the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has sought the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (KSERC) permission to collect 17 paise per unit from consumers in December for recovering a fuel surcharge of ₹37.70 crore pending from the April-June 2024 quarter. The KSEB has filed a petition before the commission seeking its approval in this regard.

From June 2023, the KSEB has been recovering fuel surcharge through an automatic recovery mechanism as per the KSERC (Terms and Conditions for Determination of Tariff) Amendment Regulations, 2023.

To avoid tariff shock, the regulations have capped the monthly surcharge amount that can be collected from consumers at 10 paise per unit. According to the KSEB, due to this condition, ₹37.70 crore still remains to be recovered for the billing period from April 2024 to July 2024.

Regulation 87(7) of the KSERC regulations note that if the distribution licensee — in this case, the KSEB — has excess fuel surcharge amount due to be recovered even after the automatic monthly recovery at 10 paise per unit, it can file a petition before the commission within 45 days for “adjusting” the outstanding fuel surcharge from the consumers.

Over the past months, the KSEB has been collecting 19 paise per unit as surcharge, under the new automatic surcharge recovery mechanism (10 paise per unit) and nine paise per unit as per the older regulation.

Published - November 23, 2024 05:28 pm IST