The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), the quasi-judicial body, on Monday announced that there would be no increase in the power tariff for the year 2025-26, bringing relief to millions of domestic consumers.

The last time the power tariff was increased was in 2021-22.

Secretary OERC Priyabrata Patnaik said: “There has been no increase in the power tariff for the last four years. Although the cost of power distribution and generation has gone up over the years, we have managed to retain the same power tariff and have not enhanced it.”

He said: “We have been able to maintain it as we asked the Grid Corporation of Odisha (Gridco), the trading company, to sell its 7,000 million units of surplus power and pass it to the consumers. The OERC issued the tariff order after hearing the grievances of various utilities.”

The OERC also announced that the consumers need not pay the monthly rent towards installing the smart metre. “The consumers having smart meters with loaf upto 2 kilowatts will no longer have to pay the monthly rent of ₹60. We have waived the rent.” said Patnaik.

Patnaik said: “We have asked the power distribution companies to reduce their transmission and distribution losses by one per cent. Once they manage to minimise, they will manage to incur the losses.”

As there is no change in power tariff, domestic consumers will continue to pay ₹2.90 for each unit up to 50 units and ₹4.70 for units up to consuming power units between 51 and 200 units. Consuming power between 201 and 400 units, one will continue to pay ₹5.70 per unit and ₹6.10 per unit for consumption above 400 units.

For the last six months, there have been reports of people rejecting installing the smart metres, alleging that power distribution companies would be benefitted. People were seen dumping the smart metres, alleging that smart metres show the higher side of consumption and are based on a faulty reading system.

Patnaik said: “There are two provisions under the smart meter₹₹ system: pre and post-paid. The government offices have already installed the pre-paid smart metres.”

The OERC has also stated that it would continue to stress on promoting digital payments. The consumers will get a four per cent rebate on paying the power bill digitally. The OERC has also given incentives for promoting solar power.

Consumers with smart metres and having power use of 10 kilowatts will be eligible for a 20 paise per unit rebate during specific periods known as solar hours which are from 8am to 4pm. Those who opt to receive bills via SMS, e-mail or any other electronic format will be entitled to ₹10 rebate per bill.

However, consumers have questioned OERC’s decision to waive metre rent on smart metres with a two-kilowatt load. They argue that even the smallest household’s consumption will cross that threshold.

President of the Odisha Electricity Consumers Association, Ramesh Satpathy, said: “The charges levelled by NTPC and other central power generation agencies to sell power to Gridco has been reduced. After procuring the power, it sells it to distribution companies, and the distribution agencies sell it to consumers. That benefit should have been passed to the consumers.”