KSEB contests panel charges

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has contested the charges the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) had given in a press release recently in support of the decision to withdraw the permission for levying a fuel surcharge on the power supplied to consumers in the State.

In a press release on Tuesday, the KSEB said the main charge was that it had not furnished to the KSERC the particulars of the amount collected as fuel surcharge promptly. �However, the commission, vide its letters dated July 20 and 26, had given the KSEB time till August 10 to submit the accounts of the levy collected till June. The KSEB had furnished the accounts to the commission before the specified date, the press release said.

Further, the Cabinet, at its meeting on April 7, had exempted consumers drawing up to 120 units of power a month from the surcharge. The Cabinet also had decided to give the KSEB as subsidy the income it would lose while exempting the low-end consumers from the surcharge. The government had, in its supplementary demands for funds for the current financial year in the State Assembly, had made the required allocation for the subsidy and had decided to adjust the amount against duties the KSEB had to pay to the government, the press release added