Chandigarh, October 31 — Electricity consumers in Chandigarh will see a 1% increase in power tariffs starting November 1, marking the first revision since the city’s power utility was privatised earlier this year.
The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) approved the hike for the remainder of the current financial year, up to March 31, 2026, and indicated a 2% annual rise over the following five years.
The decision comes months after Chandigarh Power Distribution Limited (CPDL) — the private firm that took over from the government-run department in February — filed a petition in July seeking a steeper hike of 7.57%. The company said it faced a revenue shortfall of ₹81 crore, estimating an expenditure of ₹1,157 crore against expected revenue of ₹1,075 crore for 2025–26.
While rejecting the higher demand, JERC approved a minimal revision and directed CPDL to focus on efficiency, performance, and loss reduction. “The commission has balanced the need for financial viability with consumer affordability,” an official said.
Under the new order, domestic consumers will continue paying ₹30 per month as fixed charge and ₹2.75 per unit for single-phase connections. Proposed hikes in these charges were not accepted.
To rationalise billing, CPDL has also expanded the domestic consumption slabs from three to five, each covering 100 units. Officials said the revision would “lighten the burden on smaller households” by narrowing tariff differentials.
According to S.K. Nayar, president of the Indian Citizen Forum, the regulator has also reclassified industrial categories. “The earlier ‘small power’ category has been scrapped. Now, LT industrial supply up to 85 kWh will have three slabs — 1–500, 501–1,000, and above 1,000 units,” Nayar said.
Data from CPDL show that Chandigarh has 2.34 lakh consumers, including 2.01 lakh domestic, 26,559 commercial, and 3,100 industrial users.
The city’s electricity distribution and retail operations were transferred to CPDL, wholly owned by Eminent Electricity Distribution Limited (EEDL), a Kolkata-based company, as part of the privatisation plan finalised earlier this year.
Last year, the JERC approved a 9.4% hike in tariffs effective August 2024, doubling fixed charges for domestic users from ₹15 to ₹30 per month. In 2022–23, tariffs were increased by 25 paise per unit up to 150 kWh, following a four-year freeze since 2018–19.
Reacting to the latest order, Congress MP Manish Tewari said he remained opposed to any hike. “The private company has not carried out meaningful upgrades or expansion since taking charge. The people of Chandigarh should not be made to pay more for the same level of service,” he said.
