Telangana: Power tariff cut proposed for places of worship

The discoms have recommended this in their Aggregate Revenue Requirements for 2023-24 with the TS Electricity Regulatory Commission recently.

Hyderabad: In a major relief to places of worship in the State, the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Limited (TSSPDCL) and Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Limited (TSNPDCL) have proposed to reduce power tariff from Rs 7 to Rs 5 per unit for mosques, temples, churches and gurdwaras across the State.

The discoms have recommended this in their Aggregate Revenue Requirements (ARR) for 2023-24 with the TS Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC) recently. According to officials, the decision has been taken by the discoms after considering the appeals made by the representatives of places of worship to reduce the electricity tariff. If these proposals are approved by the TSERC, the reduced tariff would come into force from April 1.

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However, for places of worship under LT-5 (B category) with a load of less than 2 KW, the existing fixed demand charges have been increased from Rs 21 to Rs 30 per unit. Currently, large places of worship come under the HT-2 category and Rs 475 was being levied as demand charges. Under this category, Rs 8.80 per unit is charged for a 11-KV connection, Rs 8 per unit for a 33-KV connection and Rs 7.80 per unit for a connection above that.

Only those religious institutions owning the place of worship, running on a no-profit basis, registered under the Income Tax Act, 1961, and the premises owned by a religious institution or association of a community of not less than 15 persons would be considered for the reduction in power tariff rates, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the State Energy Department has sanctioned Rs 415 crore to TS-TRANSCO for the funding of operational losses of discoms for the FY 2021-22 under the UDAY scheme by providing additional funds in favour of the Telangana Power Distribution Companies pool account.