Guwahati: In a bid to reduce revenue deficit and the resultant loss to the company, Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has moved the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) to increase the power tariff by 40 paise per unit on an average, company officials said.

A petition was forwarded to the commission by the APDCL to increase the tariff by 5.39 per cent or an average of 40 paise per unit. The rates will be different for different categories of consumers, with low consumption domestic consumers to be charged 20 paise extra while urban small industries paying 40 paise more, without considering the subsidy paid by Assam. The commission has subsequently published a notice in local newspapers and a public hearing will be held in February before a decision is taken by March 31.

The APDCL is gearing up for a major improvement in the power scenario of the state in terms of electrification with all households in the state to be provided connection by the end of March 2019.

The APDCL succeeded the Assam State Electricity Board, incorporated in 2009 under the Companies Act as a public limited company, wholly owned by the state government. The objective of the company is to undertake electricity distribution, trading and supply in Assam. It also has the mandate to develop, maintain and operate the power distribution system in the state.

As of November 2017, the APDCL had around 43 lakh consumers, 95 per cent of them domestic and includes 35 per cent of BPL families, termed Jeevan Dhara customers. The total number of consumers is expected to jump to around 70 lakh by March next year.

"The company managed to realise revenue of Rs 4,234 crore against projected revenue of Rs 4,700 crore approved by the commission in 2016-17, leading to a deficit of Rs 466 crore caused by excess expenditure not under our control. The realised amount also includes the subsidies provided by the state government. To recover the excess costs, a proposal to increase the tariff by 5.39 per cent has been forwarded to the AERC. The APDCL incurred a loss of Rs 34 crore in 2016-17, down from Rs 578 crore in 2014-15. This is largely due to improvement in efficiency, cutting distribution loss from 34.18 per cent to 17.89 per cent in the last decade," said public relations official Nilmadhav Deb.

The Assam government provides subsidies to five categories of consumers - Jeevan Dhara, domestic, commercial, small rural and urban industries.

"Steps are being taken to strengthen the distribution network. Anti-theft or pilferage drives and load surveys are conducted regularly to plug the metering gap and resultant loss of revenue," said deputy general manager (tariff) Ramen Choudhury.