Telangana power consumers face Rs 5,420 cr extra burden from November 2026 Bills

The TGERC has finalised a recovery mechanism to collect Rs 5,420.23 crore from non-agricultural power consumers through DISCOMs starting November 2026. The true-up charges will be levied at 30 paise per unit in the first month and 50 paise per unit in subsequent months.

Hyderabad: Electricity consumers in Telangana will have to bear an additional burden of Rs. 5,420.23 crore, with the recovery set at 30 paise per unit for the first month and 50 paise per unit thereafter, from the November 2026 bills.

The additional charges follow the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission (TGERC) finalising the mechanism to recover Rs. 7,635.22 crore towards power purchase and revenue ‘True-Up’ amounts for 2022-23 and 2023-24 through the two State-owned DISCOMs, TGSPDCL and TGNPDCL.

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The Commission directed that Rs. 2,214.99 crore attributable to the agricultural sector be recovered from the government instead of farmers. The remaining Rs. 5,420.23 crore will be recovered from eligible electricity consumers in other categories.

A True-Up amount in power purchase and electricity billing refers to the adjustment made to match the estimated cost of electricity or power consumption with the actual cost and consumption.

The Commission, comprising Chairman Justice Devaraju Nagarjuna and Members Raghu Kancharla and Cherukuri Srinivasa Rao, issued the orders on Monday. While an earlier order stated that the recovery mechanism would be determined later, the Commission has now finalised the process through its latest directive.

For 2022-23, the power purchase True-Up amount was determined at Rs. 5,186.29 crore. Of this, Rs.3,329.97 crore pertains to TGSPDCL and Rs.1,856.32 crore to TGNPDCL.

For 2023-24, the revenue True-Up amount stands at Rs.2,448.93 crore, comprising Rs. 2,335.45 crore for TGSPDCL and Rs. 113.48 crore for TGNPDCL. Thus, the combined True-Up amount for both DISCOMs is Rs. 7,635.22 crore.

The Commission identified Rs. 2,214.99 crore as the True-Up amount attributable to the agricultural sector for the two financial years. This includes Rs. 1,442.49 crore within the TGSPDCL jurisdiction and Rs. 772.50 crore within the TGNPDCL jurisdiction.

Keeping the free electricity policy for agriculture in mind, the Commission clarified that this amount should not be recovered from farmers.

Of the Rs. 5,420.23 crore to be recovered from consumers in other categories, TGSPDCL accounts for Rs. 4,222.93 crore and TGNPDCL for Rs. 1,197.30 crore. The recovery will commence with electricity bills issued in November 2026.

The Commission decided to recover the True-Up amount at 30 paise per unit in the first month and 50 paise per unit in subsequent months. The monthly recovery will be calculated based on the consumer’s electricity usage during 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The recovery period has been fixed at 29 billing months for the TGSPDCL region and 26 billing months for the TGNPDCL region. However, the Commission clarified that the amount recovered from any consumer must not exceed the total True-Up amount applicable to their consumption during the two financial years.

The TGERC also directed that the True-Up charge be displayed as a separate line item and not merged with the regular electricity bill.

The bill must clearly specify the financial year to which the amount relates, the monthly consumption used for the calculation and the applicable rate. If a single billing month includes recovery amounts pertaining to both financial years, they must be shown separately, the order stated.