Govt keeps electricity tariff unchanged for FY 2026-27

Patna: In a significant move, the regulatory body Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) on Wednesday announced there will be “no tariff hike for 2026-27 across all categories” as it decided to keep the tariff rate unchanged for the next financial year starting April 1.The decision, which is set to benefit 2.22 crore power consumers in the state, comes at a time when the residents face LPG supply issues triggered by conflicts in West Asia.Informed sources said the BERC rejected the proposal of both Discoms—North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd— for a 35 paise tariff hike across categories in energy charges.A full commission comprising BERC chairman Amir Subhani and two members, Parshuram Singh Yadav and Arun Kumar Sinha, announced the tariff orders for the fiscal 2026-27 on a bunch of petitions filed by both the Discoms and other power companies like the transmission company, Bihar Grid Company, SLDC and others.

“The proposal of Discoms for an increase in energy charges by 35 paise per unit across all categories of consumers is not accepted. There will be no hike in electricity tariff rate in the next financial year starting April 1,” Subhani told reporters after pronouncing the tariff order. The new tariff rate will come into effect from April 1.“The BERC, after thorough examination and prudence check of their proposals, has approved the net Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) of Rs 16,555.69 crore with revenue surplus of Rs 2.69 crore for NBPDCL and net ARR of Rs 18,908.97 crore with revenue surplus of Rs 1,931.35 crore for SBPDCL, after considering the revenue from approved sale of power in FY 2026-27 and trued-up gap/surplus of FY 2024-25, including carrying cost,” it said while citing the financial position of the utilities and the need to avoid burdening consumers.

It implemented a uniform tariff rate for both urban and rural domestic consumers, replacing the earlier system of differentiated rates for different slabs. At present, urban domestic consumers are charged in two slabs. For the first 100 units, they have to pay Rs7.42 per unit and Rs8.95 per unit for over and above 100 units. Similarly, rural commercial users pay Rs7.79 per unit for up to 100 units, while urban commercial consumers pay Rs7.73 per unit for the first 100 units and Rs8.93 per unit for over and above 100 units.The tariff rates announced by the BERC do not include the subsidy announced by the state govt every year. The govt is likely to announce subsidy on electricity tariff rate for the next financial year of 2026-27 in the next few days. At present, the state govt is giving 125 units of free electricity to power consumers of the state.