Karnataka: Tribunal admits FKCCI plea, opposes tariff revision by KERC for industries

Bengaluru: The appellate tribunal for electricity has admitted the application filed by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), opposing the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (KERC) decision to revise the tariff order of March 2025. 

In March 2026, the KERC, based on the review petitions filed by electricity supply companies (Escoms), had increased the power tariff for industrial and commercial establishments between 10 paise and 95 paise per unit, while bringing down the tariff for agriculture pumpsets by an average of 87 paise. 

As a result of the revision in charges, industries and commercial establishments had to pay higher prices retrospectively for power consumption between April 2025 and February 2026. 

The review petition by Escoms had stated that there was a need to increase the tariff of industries and commercial establishments and reduce the tariff for agriculture pumpsets since the subsidy released by the government for agriculture pumpsets was less and this had resulted in revenue deficit. 

Following the decision, FKCCI moved the appellate tribunal, citing that KERC revising its own order was against the norms. 

“According to law, the tariff order can only be revised based on the review petition, if the errors are apparent or if there is new evidence that requires the order to be changed. However, both of these are not true in this case,” said M G Prabhakar, advisor to the energy committee, FKCCI. 

Industrialists said the burden was huge since it was retrospective and the financial implications were hard to bear.