MUMBAI: The overall electricity tariff across power utilities in the city will either remain unchanged or decrease up to 4% from next month, as per tariff order of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Electric vehicle charging station rates have also been cut from Rs 6 per unit to Rs 5.5 per unit to encourage sales of e-cars and e-bikes, said sources. The cost of maintaining and running such vehicles is also lower than vehicles that run on fossil fuels.
As for utility tariffs, Tata Power consumers in the 0-100 units user bracket will enjoy the highest dip at 4%.
The rates for BEST, which has 10.5 lakh consumers in the island city, will remain unchanged for the first two slabs, 0-100 units and 101-300 units, which comprise a majority of its residential consumers from Colaba to Sion and Cuffe Parade to Mahim.
For high-end consumers, there will be a tariff drop of 1% from April 1, the first day of the new financial year.
The drop will be a relief to many residential, commercial and industrial users who were financially hit in the Covid-19 lockdown. Pending power bill payments today amount to over Rs 45,000 crore across the state, said sources.
BEST will continue to have the cheapest power in the state for the fifth year in a row. The MSEDCL, with 2.6 crore consumers, will continue to have the highest residential, commercial and industrial user tariffs in 2021-22.
Tata Power, with over seven lakh users, and Adani Electricity, with nearly 30 lakh consumers, are at second and third position when it comes to cheaper power.
For Tata, the rate for low-end residential users will reduce, mainly for 0-100 units, where it will dip from 3.77 per unit to 3.63 per unit, a drop of around 4%. In the 101-300 units category, there is a drop of 4 paise, or under 1%.
There is a marginal increase, of under 1%, in tariff for high-end users in the 301-500 units category.
In case of Adani Electricity, there is a marginal rise, of under 1%, for low-end residential consumers, but high-end users, whether in the 301-500 units category or 500-plus units category, will get a drop in rates from next month.
For users of MSEDCL, which powers Bhandup and Mulund, Thane, Navi Mumbai and the rest of the state, there is dip of up to 2% in tariff for residential users. For the 500-plus units bracket, there is a marginal increase of 4 paise, or less than 1%.