Power tariff increase puts BWSSB in troubled waters
The year-on-year increase in electricity tariff has left the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in a fix because its expenditure is only rising while the revenue has stagnated for nearly eight years now.
On Monday, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) approved a five-paise per-unit increase in electricity tariff in Bengaluru. This could increase the BWSSB’s expenditure by at least Rs 2 crore a month.
“In 2014, when we last revised our tariff, our expenditure on electricity was approximately Rs 30 crore a month. During the course of the next eight years, the Bescom tariff has been revised multiple times, forcing us to spend Rs 70-75 crore a month on electricity alone,” a senior BWSSB official said on the condition of anonymity.
