Hike in fixed charge to raise power bill in Karnataka

You will have to pay more for electricity from April. The new charges will reflect in the bills generated in May.

Although the Karnataka Electricity Regulation Commission (KERC) has decreased the energy charges by 10 paise per unit, it hiked the fixed charges by Rs 25 for 2025-26, Rs 30 for 2026-27 and Rs 40 for Rs 2027-28.

Currently, per-unit energy charges are Rs 5.9 while fixed charges are Rs 120.

For the first two years (2025-2026 and 2026-27), the per-unit energy charge has been reduced by 10 paise to Rs 5.8. For the third year (2027-28), it will further decrease to Rs 5.75.

In November 2024, electricity supply companies in Karnataka submitted a multi-year-tariff hike proposal to the KERC, requesting an increase in the tariff by 67 paise per unit for 2025-26, 75 paise for 2026-27 and 91 paise for 2027-28.

The commission conducted several public hearings and scrutinised filings from Escoms before releasing the order on Thursday.

This will be in addition to the surcharge announced by the KERC on March 18 to cover the government’s portion of Pension and Gratuity (P&G) payments for retired employees of the KPTCL and Escoms.

The surcharge is 36 paise for every unit for 2025-26, 35 paise for 2026-27 and 34 paise for 2027-28.

Much like the surcharge, the hike will not impact Gruha Jyothi beneficiaries, whose expenses will be borne by the government.

On average, a household in B’luru consumes 150 units of power and uses a 2-3 kW meter.

As they use 2-3 kW meters, although their energy charges will decrease by Rs 15, they will pay Rs 50-65 more as fixed charges. So the effective increase will be Rs 35-60.

For households consuming over 200 units per month and 5-6 kW meters, their power bill will go up by more than Rs 100. In short, if you use less electricity, you will pay less and vice-versa.

For industries, energy charges have been decreased by 30 paise per unit while fixed charges have been increased by just Rs 5.

A Bescom official hoped that this would give a major push to the MSME sector thriving in Bengaluru.

MG Balakrishna, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), welcomed the KERC order and noted that if the tariff remains the same, it will help the micro and medium enterprises to experiment more.