Saying that electricity tariff has not been raised for the past 17 years, BPC has argued that it has been facing huge losses over the past few years.
In a proposal submitted to the ETFC, said its electrification program has also been affected because of the loss.
BPC has argued that it is facing loss of Rs 5.24 per unit. According to the documents submitted at the committee, BPC sells electricity at the average rate of Rs 4.52 per unit while its production cost stands at Rs 9.76 per unit.
The company has argued that there is a need to hike electricity tariff not only to finance its electrification drive in the licensed areas but also to meet the revenue per unit target as required for 16 percent return on investment.
BPC has proposed to the committee to hike tariff in line with the tariff structure of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) taking into consideration the fact that NEA has also started distributing electricity in the periphery of its licensed areas.
Ganesh Prasad Subba, chairman of ETFC, said the committee was studying the BPC´s proposal. He also said the committee would send a team to hold discussions on tariff with BPC customers and to study the tariff principle.
“Preliminary study of BPC´s tariff principle shows it is overcharging people consuming less power and providing electricity at minimum rates to those consuming more power,” Subba said, adding, “NEA´s tariff policy is exactly opposite. It charges minimum fee to people consuming less power.”
Meanwhile, NEA´s proposal for tariff hike is underway at the ETFC. NEA has proposed to the NEA to increase tariff by 20 percent.
Source: Republica
