Chandigarh: In the public hearing of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), the Chandigarh administration submitted ‘True-up’ petitions for the years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25, disclosing losses amounting to approximately Rs 700 crore over the past two years and ten months in the UT electricity department.The public hearing was held at Hall of Art & Culture College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, under the chairmanship of Alok Tondon, chairman, JERC.The dept computed the revenue gap till Jan 1, 2025, taking into account the revenue gap computed for financial years (FY) 2022-23 and FY 2023-24 in their respective true-up petitions.The closing cumulative revenue gap in FY 2022-23 was Rs 179 cr; in FY 2023-24 was Rs 426 cr; and in FY 2024-25 it was Rs 692 cr.During the hearing, S K Nayar, President, and Narinder Sharma, Secretary, Indian Citizens Forum (ICF), highlighted the point about the “inaccuracy in billing by Chandigarh Power Distribution Ltd (CPDL), UT Chandigarh, to all categories of electricity consumers except domestic supply.”Nayar said, “In Chandigarh, JERC has mandated KVAh-based billing to all LT categories of consumers except domestic as per Tariff Order effective on Nov 1, 2025, but meters installed at the premises of multiple consumers don’t record KVAh readings. The licensee has started billing by converting KWH to KVAh using a fixed power factor (like 0.85). The practice of conversion to KVAh might not reflect actual consumption accurately. Hence, inaccurate bills are being issued by CPDL, and consumers are compelled to pay the same accordingly.”A CPDL spokesperson, responding to the complaint, said, “This issue was clarified by the chairperson during the hearing that till the time all meters are replaced with kVAh-enabled smart meters, such normative conversion will have to continue. CPDL proposes to replace all such meters by March 2028.”
