JSERC Conducts Public Hearing on Tata Steel’s Tariff Petition

Consumers Provide Suggestions, Raise Concerns at Golmuri Club

The Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC) held a public hearing on Tata Steel Limited’s tariff petition for Jamshedpur’s power distribution, focusing on True-up for FY 2022-23, Annual Performance Review of FY 2023-24, and ARR for FY 2024-25.

JAMSHEDPUR – The Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission (JSERC) conducted a public hearing on March 20 at Golmuri Club, allowing stakeholders to express their concerns and suggestions regarding Tata Steel Limited’s tariff petition as the licensed power distribution entity for Jamshedpur.

The session provided a platform for stakeholders to express their concerns and suggestions regarding Tata Steel’s tariff petition, fostering transparency and public participation in the regulatory process.

Among those who presented questions and suggestions included Baidyanath Agarwal, N S Walia, Parsuram Singh Baghi, Rajesh Kumar, Santu Hore, Gupteshwar Singh, Nand Singh, BN Jha, Birendra Singh, SS Chawla, Shashi Acharya, SD Pandey, S Anand Rao, Lakkad Das, and Y Prasad.

Consumers praised the service and power availability provided by Tata Steel Limited. Requests were made to keep tariff hikes in the domestic category minimal while raising tariffs in the commercial category.

Suggestions were put forward to introduce subsidies in the tariff of the domestic category and to increase the 0-100 Units slab to 0-200 Units.

Concerns were raised about power theft, capital investment plans, Jharkhand Electricity Duty, and fixed/demand charges, among other issues.

During the Q&A session, approximately 200 attendees, including representatives from Tata Steel Limited and Tata Steel UISL, were present, with about 15 individuals providing suggestions on the tariff proposal.

Suman Mandal, Sr. Divisional Manager (EP&C), presented the key points of the petition, emphasizing the need for tariff adjustments to recover costs and proposing a tariff adjustment to bring it closer to the cost of supply, aiming to recover the revenue gap.

Chaired by Justice Amitav Kumar Gupta, along with Mahendra Prasad and Atul Kumar, members of JSERC, the session was attended by numerous domestic, commercial, and industrial consumers, as well as representatives from Tata Steel and Tata Steel UISL.

Existing LF rebate for industrial consumers is on total energy consumption over 65% subject to a maximum of 15%, while the proposed rebate is on incremental energy consumption over 65% subject to a maximum of 15%. Prompt payment rebates remain unchanged at 2% within 5 days.

Online payment rebates also remain the same at 1% on the billed amount for payment within the due date, subject to a maximum ceiling rebate of Rs 250.

The existing DPS is delayed beyond 21 days, with Bank Rate +500 basis points for the 1st month and a 50 basis point increase every month till 700 points (as per DTR).

The proposed DPS is 1.5% per month or part thereof.