Power gets costlier in Punjab; FCA surcharge levied

Electricity consumers in Punjab will have to pay more as power utility PSPCL has levied Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) surcharge.
The FCA surcharge has been levied at a rate of 4 paise per unit each for metered category (domestic, industrial segments) and Rs 2 per BHP per month for unmetered category (farming sector), according to a notification from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).
The surcharge is levied for the third quarter of financial year 2014-15 (October-December 2014) and will be recovered from April till June 2015 from consumers, it said.
FCA is levied to recover any increase in coal and power purchase cost which is required to be collected from electricity consumers.

The hike in power charges came a few days after regulator Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) had spared consumers from hike in tariffs by announcing not to raise rates for 2015-16 even as energy costs were slightly reduced for domestic and commercial categories.
Power rates were reduced by 4 paise a unit for domestic and non-residential supply (NRS) or commercial supply who consume up to 100 units of energy in new tariff orders announced by the regulator on May 5.
After a gap of almost eight years, the power regulator made no hike in tariffs in Punjab, especially for domestic and industrial categories.