Power ministry to seek Cabinet approval for tariff policy in next few days: R K Singh

Power Minister R K Singh Friday said the ministry will seek the Union Cabinet's approval for power tariff policy, which would provide for a penalty for unscheduled power cuts by distribution companies.

"We would seek Union Cabinet nod for the power tariff policy in next few days. The policy provides for penalty for unscheduled power cuts except in the case of technical faults or act of God (natural calamities)," Singh told reporters here.

He also told that state power regulators would ascertain the penalty on distribution companies (discoms) for voluntary load shedding.

The minister's statement assumes significance in view of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget on Friday where she stressed that the government will go ahead with structural reforms to achieve the objective of 'One Nation One Grid'.

She said, "We will work with state governments to remove barriers like cross-subsidy surcharges, undesirable duties on open access sales or captive generation for industrial and other bulk power consumers.

"Besides these structural reforms, considerable reforms are needed in tariff policy. A package of power sector tariff and structural reforms would soon be announced," Sitharaman added.

She further said that to take connectivity infrastructure to the next level, the government will build on the successful model of 'One Nation, One Grid'.

The minister has also announced that a package for the power sector would soon be brought by the government.

The government intends to provide '24X7 Power to All' at affordable rates. Therefore, there would a provision in the tariff to cap transmission and distribution losses. Once the tariff policy is approved, the discoms would not be allowed to pass on these losses beyond 15 per cent.

The new power tariff policy would also encourage time of the day tariff where consumer would be charged more during peak hours. This would also enable the consumers to reduce their electricity bill by consuming more electricity during non-peak hours.