BMRCL has paid over Rs 2 crore penalty to electricity supplier Bescom in the last two years for overdrawing power.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) was charged Rs 29.82 lakh by Bescom for exceeding the contracted power usage at the Mysuru Road substation during the first eight months of 2022. This follows the payment of Rs 1.8 crore by BMRCL to Bescom the previous year for similar power overdraws.
BMRCL has electricity supply agreements with Bescom and KPTCL to power its metro operations and related infrastructure. The total Contract Demand (CD) is 31,000 kVA via four substations. These agreements help Bescom plan power distribution at the master unit substation, especially since Namma Metro requires high voltage power for longer duration.
Under the terms of the agreements, BMRCL must pay 85% of the CD, regardless of its consumption levels, to ensure Bescom’s financial viability. But if BMRCL draws power more than the levels fixed by the agreements, it would throw Bescom’s distribution system off balance and disrupt power supply to consumers on the network.
“Though it may seem like a small deviation, it can actually have a significant impact on power supply,” a source in Bescom said. “Penalty is imposed on a consumer to stop them from overdrawing power. If they require more power, they can amend the agreement and increase the contract demand so that we can plan better.”
BMRCL’s chief public relations officer said they have requested the metro company to offset excess power consumption in one substation by curbing consumption in the other. “Overdrawing usually happens when one of our power sources, or feeders, goes down and we have to rely on just one,” he added.
Last year, BMRCL challenged Bescom’s penalty of Rs 1.8 crore, but the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission dismissed it saying unauthorised load escalation can result in the collapse of the distribution system.
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