Your electricity bill may rise or fall up to 20% depending on and off-peak hours; Here’s why

Centre on 23 June has amended Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 with two changes to the prevailing power tariff system. The two changes that has been amended are introduction of Time of Day (ToD) Tariff, and rationalization of smart metering provisions.

Under the Time of Day (ToD) Tariff, the official notification states that the price for electricity will vary according to the time of day, rather than being charged for electricity at the same rate at all times of the day.

The tariff during solar hours which is about eight hours in a day as specified by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission of the day shall be 10-20 percent less than the normal tariff, while that during the peak hours will be 10 to 20 percent higher. 

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As per the official release, ToD tariff would be applicable for Commercial and Industrial consumers having maximum demand of 10 KW and above, from 1st April, 2024 and for all other consumers except agricultural consumers, latest from 1st April, 2025. 

Time of Day tariff shall be made effective immediately after installation of smart meters, for the consumers with smart meters, it states.

In another change, the Centre has also simplified rules for smart metering. 

“To avoid inconvenience and harassment of the consumers, the existing penalties for increase in consumer’s demand beyond the maximum sanctioned load / demand have been reduced,” it said.

As per the amendment in metering provision, post the installation of a smart meter, no penal charges will be imposed on a consumer based on maximum demand recorded by the smart meter for the period before installation date. 

Smart meters shall be read remotely at least once in a day and the data shall be shared with Consumers in order to enable them to take informed decision about consumption of electricity, it said.