Haryana discoms press for fuel surcharge adjustment amid huge arrears

Chandigarh: With outstanding arrears of Rs 8,200 crores, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam are pressing the case for fuel surcharge adjustments on electricity consumers across the state.Notably, in a bid to recover a total of over Rs 2,500 crore, the companies have proposed a FSA of 47 paisa per unit on all the 84 lakh electricity consumers. Calculated with monthly consumption and all charges, experts claim this may inflate bills by over 10%. The issue was discussed during the public hearing on FSA organised by HERC, the power regulator headed by Nand Lal Sharma.Former minister and INLD patron Sampat Singh represented the case in person, and he was opposed by a battery of lawyers representing the power utilities. Faced with queries, they sought adjournment, forcing HERC to fix June 10 as the next date of hearing.During the meet, Sampat Singh accused the govt of making a "secretive" payment of nearly ₹1,300 crore to Sikkim Urja Limited in Oct 2025 without adequate transparency. "Discomss are attempting to burden consumers with the consequences of administrative failures and corporate favouritism. If you go deeply, the govt had sufficient option to contest that amount," said Sampat Singh.Singh also claimed that power utilities failed to pass on nearly ₹2,263 crore of negative FSA surplus benefits to consumers since 2021. Citing Section 65 of the Electricity Act, 2003, he said the Haryana Govt had not released subsidy dues of ₹1,971 crore, forcing discoms to rely on commercial borrowings. The former finance minister feared that total borrowings of discoms crossed ₹22,132 crore as of March 31, 2025, while the final figure is yet to be consolidated. MSID: 131120319 413 |