Bhopal: Summer is set to burn a deeper hole in consumers’ pockets, with electricity bills rising not just due to higher usage but also successive tariff increases. After a 4.8% hike effective from April 1 for the current financial year, consumers are now facing an additional 5.36% Fuel and Power Purchase Adjustment Surcharge (FPPAS) on electricity billed between April 24 and May 23, pushing the effective increase for this period to more than 10%.The impact is immediate at the household level. A consumer paying Rs 1,000 a month will shell out around Rs 53 extra during this billing cycle, over and above the revised tariff. With air conditioners, coolers and other appliances already driving up consumption during peak summer, the added surcharge is significantly inflating monthly bills.Officials said the FPPAS is calculated based on the gap between the actual power purchase cost and the estimated cost for a given month — in this case, February. Under amended regulations of the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission, distribution companies are allowed to automatically levy this charge on a monthly basis without prior regulatory approval.The power tariff itself is determined annually by the regulator based on projected costs for the financial year. Any variation between estimated and actual fuel costs is traditionally adjusted later through true-up petitions. However, the revised framework now allows these differences to be passed on to consumers almost immediately in the following billing cycle.Meanwhile, for 2026-27, the regulator has approved a 4.8% tariff hike against the 10.19% increase sought by discoms. Even so, the combination of annual tariff revision and monthly surcharges is amplifying the burden on consumers, particularly during high-consumption months.With temperatures rising and electricity usage peaking, households are bracing for a season where relief from the heat may come at a significantly higher cost.
