Mumbai, April 2 (IANS) The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on Wednesday stayed its order approving the 10 per cent reduction in tariff charged by the state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MahaVitaran) for the 2025-26.
The order, which was issued on March 28, was to be effective from April 1, but with the stay granted by MERC, nearly 3.16 crore electricity consumers of Mahavitaran will have to pay the tariff which was applicable during the fiscal 2024-25.
MERC has allowed Mahavitaran to file a review petition by the end of April.
MahaVitaran had moved an application before the MERC seeking to stay on its order, citing that its order will result in a deficit of Rs 92,000 crore in the next five years against its expected revenue.
MERC in its order on the MahaVitaran’s annual revenue requirement and tariff petition had approved tariff reduction of 10 per cent in FY 2025-26 and cumulative reduction of 16 per cent by FY 2029-30 vis-à-vis existing tariff (including Fuel Adjustment Cost), as against Mahavitaran’s claim for 0 per cent revision in FY 2025-26 and reduction of 3.6 per cent by FY 2029-30. MERC had approved the revenue surplus of Rs 44,480 crore as against the Mahavitaran’s projections of revenue deficit of Rs 48,066 crore.
Mahavitaran, in its application, however, said that the errors and inconsistencies go to the root of the tariff that has been set for the 5th Control Period of FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30.
The tariff, if implemented in the manner as set out in the Tariff Order, would cause grave prejudice and irreversible harm to many categories of consumers and various stakeholders, including but not limited to the distribution licensee in the State of Maharashtra.
Accordingly, Mahavitaran had requested that the Tariff Order be immediately stayed/not put into effect to ensure protection of consumers and stakeholders.
The MahaVitaran’s independent director, Vishwas Pathak, said, “MERC today has stayed its order approving the reduction in the Mahavitaran’s tariff. MERC has also accepted our plea to file the review petition by the end of April.”
The Mahavitaran sources said that if the MERC had accepted its tariff proposal, then its financial condition could have improved and electricity tariffs could have been reduced in stages in the next five years.
However, the MERC has reduced tariffs for all consumers, especially when the Mahavitaran had suggested a tariff cut only for those consuming up to 100 units of electricity for the year 2025-26.
(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)
–IANS
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