More charges, more burden: FPPCA charges raise concern among consumers in AP
ANANTAPUR: Consumers, already burdened with tariffs, are confused by the additional levies on their electricity bills. “Additional amounts are being collected from consumers in the name of true-up and adjustment charges in order to make up for the company’s financial deficit,” they say.
Several people complained that the extra fees being paid by consumers exceeded 50 per cent of the actual price of the real used electricity.
Several consumers complained that they were being made to pay additional fees for the past few months under various heads, including surcharge, fixed fees, customer fees, FPPCA, power duty and adjustment.
An additional sum of 50 paise per unit was billed in the name of true-up in March and April, said president of a residents association Suresh Babu.
He said that in the Anantapur district alone, an additional burden of more than Rs 12 crore per month fell on the consumers. From May, a fixed charge of Rs 10, customer charge of Rs 50, electricity duty of Rs 8.75, and FPCA charge of Rs 14.52 have also been added to the electricity bill.
With this, the tariff has gone up at 132 kV potential from 5.01 paise to Rs 6.75 paise per unit.
In addition, the following charges are also being collected: Levy of true-up charges of eight paise (for APEPDCL)/23 paise (for APSPDCL) from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023; levy of FPPCA charges of 52 paise (average) on the power consumed by the industry during the FY 2021-22 is to be collected from April 1, 2023 month-wise (ie the April, 2021 FPPCA charges to be collected in April, 2023).
Bayineni Prasad, who is running a fabrication unit, said, “I have no
alternative other than closing down our operations as the enhanced power tariff is not affordable.”
The amount that utilities place on bills based on the fluctuating price of
fuel or coal is known as the FAC (fuel adjustment charge), FCA (fuel cost adjustment), FPPCA (fuel and power purchase cost adjustment), or regulatory adjustment.
Every month, coal or fuel prices vary depending on supply and
demand. This impacts the costs of producing energy. These expenses are transferred from electricity generation companies to distributors, who then pass them on to customers.
This is a fee that is assessed for each unit of power used. This is a
variable portion of the electricity bill as opposed to set charges. It
varies each month depending on the consumer’s electricity usage.
Though occasionally it turns negative, it is often positive. Any decrease in monthly electricity use will aid in lowering the amount in this component.
The association has sought a review of the fuel charges and surcharges on electricity bills as this has been hiked several times in the past four years.
