Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has sought permission from the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission to impose a surcharge of 30 paise per unit for three months from May, and 14 paise per unit for the following three months. The commission will hear the arguments of the consumers on April 12. 

Generally, the KSEB imposes surcharges to recover the additional expense incurred while purchasing electricity from outside. This is owing to the rise in production costs due to fuel price hikes. However, the surcharge rate will be determined by the commission after hearing the arguments of the consumers. 

According to KSEB, they suffered an additional expense of Rs 189.38 crore, apart from the money allotted by the commission, when purchasing electricity for three months from July to September. In order to recover the expense, a surcharge of 30 paise per unit needs to be imposed for three months. The additional expense incurred in the months of October and December was Rs 95.03 crore. For this, a surcharge of 14 paise per unit is necessary.

As the commission had earlier permitted the levying a surcharge of 9 paise per unit for the months from February to April, the next phase is likely to be from May onwards. 

Although both applications will be considered together by the commission, it will not allow two surcharges simultaneously. 

The hearing will be held via video conference on April 12 at 11 am. Those who wish to participate should send their name and further details to the commission secretary at kserc@erckerala.org.