Good News For Consumers: New Rules For Current Connection

Hyderabad, Feb 8 (Maxim News): The Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) has issued key orders regarding new electricity connections. The ERC has completely repealed the rules for preparing estimates for consumers taking connections.

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As per the ERC’s orders, the electricity distribution companies and DISCOMs have decided to implement the new rules from Thursday. In the past, if someone wanted to take a new current connection, some electricity department employees would bring in their favorite contractors and demand money in the name of estimated cost. With this, the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) has taken this sensational decision to put a stop to their business. It is noteworthy that the electricity distribution companies and DISCOMs have decided to implement these rules from Thursday.

The government has taken a decision to this effect by issuing new guidelines. The power companies have taken a decision to make changes to the issuance of new connections and additional load. The ERC explained that after the formation of the Telangana state, the electricity rules were amended once in 2015, and then another key amendment was made ten years later. According to the new rules, anyone in the state who wants a new electricity connection should be provided with the connection immediately after applying to the DISCOM. Under no circumstances should electricity staff ask consumers to pay the estimated cost and pay the entire amount.

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Highlights of the guidelines

Till now, builders have been charging anyone who buys a flat in an apartment or a portion of a commercial building the cost of installing a new transformer for the electricity connection as they see fit, in the name of development charge. This is no longer allowed.

The DISCOMs can no longer directly collect the special transformer fee for apartments and commercial buildings. How many electricity connections are being provided for common use such as all the flats, lifts, water connections in that building? Their total load will have to be calculated. Accordingly, Rs. 10,000 per kilowatt will have to be paid to the DISCOM. In addition, another Rs. 10,000 will have to be paid to the DISCOM. In addition, another Rs. 200 will have to be paid as a security deposit. The same rules apply to commercial buildings. The DISCOM will have to install the transformer directly for the apartments for which this amount has been paid. Nothing additional will be charged for it. If a special transformer is installed at the expense of the consumer, the DISCOM should maintain it. Connections to other consumers should not be given from it.

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Real estate agents who build new plots should bear the cost of installing transformers themselves. If a farmer who has dug a new borehole in his field applies for an electricity connection, the DISCOM should charge only Rs. 1,000 per kilowatt.

If you set up an electric vehicle charging station, it will cost Rs. 3,400 if it is less than 20 kilowatts and Rs. 8,000 if it exceeds that. DISCOMs will charge development charges along with service line charges up to 20 kilowatts. If it exceeds 20 kilowatts, only service line charges will be charged. The development charges already in force are Rs. 1,646 per kilowatt for domestic needs and Rs. 2,275 for commercial needs.

In the housing sector, the minimum load has been decided based on the area of the house. A house/flat with an area of less than 500 square feet needs to be taken at least 2 kilowatts. Before buying a plot, one should check the load of the electricity connection. For example, if the builder has already taken a connection with a load of 3 kilowatts, then only Rs. 30,600 should be paid to him. In addition, if the builder paid Rs. 1,02,000 to the discom for a common connection load of 10 kilowatts and is divided equally among the total 30 flats, it will be Rs. 3,400 per flat. This alone should be paid additionally to the builder. That is, only a total of Rs. 34 thousand should be paid to the builder for that flat. If the load of all the connections in an apartment or commercial building is less than 20 kilowatts, then Rs. 4,600 should be paid for each kilowatt.

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Farmers mostly use a 5 HP electric motor for drilling. For this, a 3.8 kW load electricity connection is usually taken. It is enough to pay Rs. 3,800 for this. Apart from this, another Rs. 1,200 per kilowatt is charged as development fee. In addition, the ERC has made it clear that all additional fees collected in the name of Out Right Contribution (ORC) should be stopped from now on. (Maxim News)

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