Power bills in Punjab to go down as regulator merges slabs

It’s good news for power consumers in Punjab. The state electricity regulator on Friday announced a new tariff order for 2025-26 with no hike in electricity charges for domestic and commercial consumers.

The new electricity tariff rates will be effective from April 1, 2025, said an order issued by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC). The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had initially projected a revenue deficit of ₹5,090.89 crore for the financial year 2025-26 and had requested an increase in electricity rates. However, after reviewing the financials, the PSERC, led by Viswajeet Khanna, determined a revenue surplus of ₹311.50 crore instead. With total revenue from the current tariff standing at ₹47,985.81 crore, and the net requirement for 2025-26 at ₹47,674.31 crore, the commission decided to redesign the tariff without adding any extra burden on consumers. Had the PSERC accepted the power corporation’s proposals, it would have resulted in 11% hike (a sharp spike) in the energy rates.

An official release said in the case of domestic supply and non-residential supply consumers, the three-slab system in the electricity tariff has been converted into the two-slab system without any extra financial load on consumers. “This will help towards easy preparation and consumer-friendly bills,” it said.

“With the merging of slabs, no consumer will be paying anything extra. Domestic consumers with more than 300 units will be paying lower charges by approximately ₹160 per month for loads up to 2 kW, ₹90 a month for loads above 2 kW and up to 7 kW and ₹32 a month for loads above 7 kW and up to 20 kW,” it said.

Similarly, for non-residential (NRS) consumers, no consumer will be paying anything higher. There has been a reduction of variable charges by 2 paise per unit for consumption up to 500 units for consumers having loads up to 20 kW.

Thus, for those NRS consumers consuming up to 500 units, the bill charges will be lower by approximately ₹110 a month.

In the case of large supply consumers, only two slabs have been created that is one above 100-1000kVA with reduced fixed charges ( ₹210/kW in place of ₹220/kW and the other of 1000kVA & above with fixed charges ₹280/kWh, which is the lower of the merged slabs).

A special night tariff with 50% fixed charges and an energy charge of ₹5.50 per kVAh for all industrial consumers using electricity exclusively during the night hours of 10 PM to 6 AM next day has also been continued. However, the existing night tariff was ₹5.31 per kVAh.

A new category for single point supply to residential colonies or multi-storey residential complexes and co-operative group housing society has been introduced with reduced fixed and variable charges.

No increase in tariff will also benefit the government, as its subsidy bill won’t increase. “PSPCL’s initiatives such as curbing supply losses, power banking during winters and reducing the power purchase cost by almost 25 paise per unit in the last one year, has helped the regulator in reducing the tariff”, said a corporation official, pleading anonymity.

“The average cost of supply for the year 2025-26 is 715.30 paise per unit, which is down from current 715.55 paise per unit. There is marginal reduction in the tariff of the small domestic and commercial consumers. There is no increase in the fixed charges for any category of consumers,” said the PSERC order.

The commission has also worked out the green energy tariff for the consumers under the provisions of the Electricity (promoting renewable energy through green energy open access) Rules, 2022. The tariff has been slashed to ₹0.39/kWh from the earlier ₹0.54/kWh.

Power subsidy burden

According to the PSERC, the power subsidy bill for the current fiscal stands at ₹20,600 crore. Of this, the Punjab government, has paid only ₹15,500 crore, thus leaving a huge gap. The subsidy bill for the 2025-26 has been calculated as ₹19,657 crore. Add to it ₹5,273 crore (unpaid amount of the current fiscal), and the total subsidy burden for the next fiscal stands at ₹23,550 crore. The regulator has also imposed ₹311 crore as interest on Punjab government for default on power subsidy. Free power to farmers will cost ₹10,413 crore, domestic 300 unit free per consumer per month will cost ₹6,859 crores, and the industry subsidy will put a burden of ₹2,384 crore on the government.

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What it means

*Consumers using over 300 units per month to see lower bills

*No increase in fixed charges for any category of consumers.

*Simpler bill calculation due to reduction in slabs

*Industrial consumers to benefit from cheaper night-time electricity, boosting productivity.

*Cheaper electricity for residential complexes and housing societies

*Green energy adoption becomes more affordable