Power tariff hike: Odisha govt lobs the ball to OERC court

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Jan 5, 2015 at 3:25 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 5:

Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) is the final authority to take a call on the issue of revision of power tariff in the state, Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Principal Secretary of the department of Energy, said here today.

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“OERC is a quasi-judicial body and it’s the final authority in the fixation of tariff. Every year, OERC fixes tariff for different categories of electricity consumers like industries, domestic etc. after hearing different interest groups and taking all factors into consideration, including all costs,” said Mohapatra.

“As far as I know the power distribution companies were dissatisfied with the tariff for power fixed by the OERC for the last four five years and had appealed against it in the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (ATE). Recently, the ATE has ordered the OERC to quashing the existing tariff and fix it afresh after conducting fresh hearings on the matter,” said Mohapatra.

“OERC’s appeal against the ATE order is pending in the Supreme Court and I feel ultimately a decision will be taken at the apex court level. The revision of power tariff with retrospective effect going back five years will entail a big burden on the consumers and put the government in difficulty. But it’s the OERC which is the final authority in tariff matters. The state government is a party and participates in every OERC hearing on tariff revision. This time too, we will participate in the hearing and put forth our arguments,” said the Principal Secretary Energy.

The ATE, in its verdict, has expressed its unhappiness with the failure of OERC to implement its earlier order and asked it to compensate discoms, managed by Reliance Energy, by revising power tariff in the state from as early as 2006-07 retrospectively. The implementation of ATE orders will entail a burden of about Rs 4,200 crore to be passed on to about 50 lakh power consumers in the state.

The ATE’s verdict has put the OERC in a difficult situation.