Kerala power board to collect fuel surcharge in November

The Kerala State Electricity Board will collect a fuel surcharge from consumers in November. Bi-monthly billed consumers will pay 4 paise per unit, and monthly billed consumers will pay 5 paise per unit. This surcharge is meant to recover extra money spent on buying power in September this year. The money collected helps recoup additional spending on power purchases from 12 central generating stations and six independent power producers across the country. Small homes and green tariff users do not have to pay this extra fee. Domestic consumers with a connected load of and below 1,000 watts and monthly use of and below 40 units are safe from the levy. Green tariff consumers are also free from this charge.

Context

State power boards often add fuel surcharges when the cost of buying electricity from outside sources goes up unexpectedly. Regulations in Kerala allow power distributors to recover or refund such costs on a monthly basis.