PANJIM: Just days following the announcement of a twofold hike in water tariff, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) recently released a report issuing a revised tariff for Goa with effect from April 1.
The Electricity department had submitted a report with a proposed hike of 19 per cent but following a public meeting with the JERC commissioner, the report instead settled for a 14 per cent hike instead.
The existing tariffs of Rs 1.20 per unit for the first 60 units, Rs 1.70 per unit for 61 to 250 units, Rs 2.75 per unit for 251 to 500 units and Rs 3.20 per unit for above 500 units has now been increased to Rs 1.30 per unit for 0-100 units, Rs 1.90 per unit for 101-200 units, Rs 3.10 per unit for 201-400 units and Rs 3.60 per unit for above 400 units.
The report also responds to objections raised by members of the public who were gathered at the public meeting held last month. One such objection was raised by one Dr Arvind Almeida who questioned the increase in distribution losses from 12.75 per cent in 2013 to 15.5 per cent for the current financial year.
Other issues that both the Commission and the department said they would take cognizance of were the use of energy saving bulbs in homes and on streets and awareness among people of the same.
