Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain Thursday attempted to allay concerns that the hike in fixed charges will pinch those who avail the government’s subsidy scheme under the revised power tariffs. Jain said contrary to popular perception, the government provides a flat rebate of Rs 2 for consumption between 0-200 units and Rs 2.975 for consumption in the bracket of 201-400 units instead of a 50 per cent subsidy on the actual energy charges. “We will continue with the same subsidy rates for which a separate amount has already been set aside in the Budget. Now, those who consume between 0-200 units will be charged Rs 1 per unit, and Rs 1.5 will be charged for consumption of 201-400 units,” Jain said. According to official statistics, the subsidy scheme has benefitted around 37.28 lakh consumers in 2017-18. Power Secretary Varsha Joshi also confirmed the same. However, while the scheme was being conceived, the plan was to go for the percentage-based rebate regime, sources said. A March 4, 2015, letter from former Deputy Secretary (Power) Alka Sharma to the then chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) said that the Cabinet had approved the power department’s proposal to go for the absolute figure-based subsidy. However, fives days later, Sharma again wrote to DERC “clarifying” that it has been decided to go with the percentage-based reduction. However, that never materialised. A senior official in the power department said, “The idea was to make it equivalent to 50 per cent subsidy, but it was approved in rupees per unit.” Jain issued a chart, according to which a household with a 1KW connection that consumes 100 units will pay only Rs 1 more from April, while for consumption of 200 units one will save Rs 116. The chart shows that in each category of sanctioned load — be it 1 KW, 2 KW, 3 KW or 4 KW — the savings will be more for more consumption. “Generally when other parties come to power, the first thing they do is raise the power tariff. But we have set an example by not raising the tariff even once since 2015,” Jain said.
