Violation of tariff conditions: KSEB slaps fine for letting out flats as ‘private lodges’

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is frowning on the practice of letting out flats for short stays – ‘private lodges’ in KSEB parlance – to customers via booking apps. The reason is that such rentals constitute a violation of the electricity tariff conditions as flats fall in the domestic category while private lodges are in the higher-tariff commercial category, officials of the power utility said on Monday.

Following inspections in flats in the Kazhakootam area, the Anti Power Theft Squad (APTS) of the utility slapped three consumers numbers with fines totaling a little over ₹10.71 lakh. Now, the KSEB is planning to expand the inspections across Kerala.

Following a tip-off, the inspections were carried out under the instructions of the utility’s vigilance officer N. Rajan. Mr. Rajan said that the KSEB team had booked rooms via a booking app. “The customer is issued a password which is used to unlock the room. In this particular instance, they were charging ₹4,000 for two hours,” he said. The inspections were carried out by the Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam units of the APTS.

‘Private lodges’ fall in the Low Tension VII (Commercial) category along with private hostels, private guest houses, private rest houses and private travellers’ bungalows. The tariff slabs are higher compared to the slabs for the Low Tension - I (Domestic) category in which flats used for residential purposes are included.

Mr. Rajan said the KSEB is planning to extend the inspections across Kerala.

While issuing tariff orders on December 5, 2024, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission had observed that “lakhs of houses/flats owned by NRIs and high net-worth individuals owning multiple houses remain mostly unoccupied or under occupied.” However, the details of such consumers such as their connected load and month-wise electricity consumption were not readily available with the KSEB. Noting this, the Commission had directed the KSEB to submit section-wise details of “mostly unoccupied houses,” including their connected load and monthly consumption over the previous three years.