Power bills to rise from Nov as TGERC clears Rs 5,400 cr dues recovery | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Electricity consumers across Telangana, barring those in the agriculture sector, are likely to see higher power bills from Nov after the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission (TGERC) approved the recovery of ₹5,420 crore in pending true-up dues.The additional levy, spread over more than two years, will be collected through monthly bills, while farmers have been exempted from the burden, with the state govt asked to bear their share.The additional charges will be reflected in electricity bills issued from Nov. According to officials, consumers will be charged an extra 30 paise per unit initially, followed by 50 paise per unit in subsequent billing cycles. The recovery is linked to power consumption recorded during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.The TGERC has approved recovery of a total true-up amount of ₹7,635 crore arising from power purchase and revenue adjustments for 2022-23 and 2023-24. However, it exempted agricultural consumers and directed the state govt to reimburse ₹2,214 crore attributable to free power supplied to the farming sector.The orders were issued on Monday by a bench headed by TGERC chairperson Justice Devaraju Nagarjuna, along with members Raghu Kancherla and Cherukuri Srinivasa Rao. While the commission had approved the true-up amounts in March, it has now finalised the mechanism for recovering the dues.According to the order, the power purchase true-up for 2022-23 was fixed at ₹5,186 crore, while the revenue true-up for 2023-24 was determined at ₹2,448 crore. Together, Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TGSPDCL) and Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TGNPDCL) are entitled to recover ₹7,635 crore.Of the total amount, ₹2,214 crore pertains to agricultural consumers, including ₹1,442.49 crore under TGSPDCL and ₹772.50 crore under TGNPDCL. Citing the state’s free power policy for agriculture, the commission ruled that the amount should not be collected from farmers and must instead be reimbursed by the govt.The remaining ₹5,420 crore will be recovered from eligible non-agricultural consumers. TGSPDCL will recover ₹4,222 crore, while TGNPDCL will collect ₹1,197 crore.TGERC has allowed TGSPDCL to recover the dues over 29 billing months and TGNPDCL over 26 billing months. The regulator clarified that no consumer would be charged beyond the true-up amount corresponding to their actual electricity consumption during the relevant period.To ensure transparency, the commission directed the discoms to show true-up charges as a separate item in electricity bills. Details such as the financial year, applicable rate, consumption basis and amount recovered must be clearly mentioned. If recoveries relating to multiple financial years are included in the same bill, they must be displayed separately.The commission also instructed the discoms to publish public notices in Telugu, English and Urdu newspapers before issuing the first recovery bill, explaining the methodology, rates and duration of the true-up collections.