Energy consumers, reeling from the rise in the prices of essential commodities, face the risk of a shocker in their electricity bills from April, 2014.

Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Ltd has proposed a tariff hike of 55 per cent in the domestic category and to replace the slab system with a flat rate of Rs 6.50 per unit. The impact of the increase would be different for different users.

People from all walks of life are unhappy about the company’s proposal.

“It is completely unjustified to propose such a steep hike in power tariff when essential commodities are already burning our pockets. It is difficult to manage the household budget. All this has made the life of a common man difficult. Instead of collecting energy bills from big industrial and commercial enterprises, the power company is shifting their burden on domestic consumers, which is totally unfair,” said Umakant Singh, a resident of Mithapur.

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s state unit president Satyajit Kumar said: “The proposed hike is really exorbitant and would pose problems for industries. Supplying uninterrupted power to industries is not only a challenge to the government but the tariff rate must be competitive enough to make the industries viable.”

On Monday, the power company filed an aggregate revenue requirement tariff petition for 2014-15 to the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Berc), the body entrusted with the job of fixing electricity tariff rate for all kinds of consumers.

Once Berc passes the proposal, the hike would range between 23 and 128 per cent in different slabs of the domestic category. “We have filed the tariff petition for 2014-15 with Berc seeking an upward revision of electricity tariff rate for various categories,” the company deputy general manager (public relations) H.R. Pandey told The Telegraph.

The company, in its petition, has also talked about its plan to implement the premium tariff of 10 per cent from the next fiscal in the Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu) area for providing 24-hour power supply.

Pandey said the company has proposed a hike of 43 to 55 per cent in electricity tariff rate for 2014-15 in different categories. He justified the hike on the ground that there has been a huge increase in the price of power purchased from the open market.

Both South Bihar Power Distribution Company and North Bihar Power Distribution Company have tried to make a minimal hike in the tariff rate keeping in mind the consumers’ interest.

Stating that the company has been paying Rs 200 crore every month to National Thermal Power Corporation against power purchase, the official said distribution companies supplied energy worth Rs 633.98 crore in September, 2013, while collecting Rs 360.64 crore as revenue, leading to a deficit of Rs 273.34 crore.

However, power company, which claimed that there would be a hike of 55 per cent in domestic category, made a proposal to abolish the slab system and introduce a single flat rate of Rs 6.50 per unit. The impact of the increase would be different for different users in domestic category. With the hike getting commission’s nod, the hike would range between 23 to 128 per cent in different slab of the domestic category.

Even in 2013-14, the power company had submitted a proposal to Berc about 58.4 per cent hike in power tariff but the latter approved a moderate hike of 6.9 per cent after hearing all the stakeholders.

During public hearings, Berc would invite suggestions and objections from its various stakeholders such as domestic and commercial, farmers, railways, low-tension and high-tension consumers (industrial users) and others before passing its order on the company’s proposal. The commission is likely to start public hearings from the third week of December 2013.

Berc, which has taken the job of fixing the tariff since 2006-07, has so far announced electricity rates for six financial years — 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. It could not announce the tariff for financial years 2007-08 and 2009-10, as the state electricity board filed their petition very late.