Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will allow subsidies on all electricity bills from April 20 to June 19.
The subsidy will be provided on the excess bill amount during the period, an order issued by the KSEB stated.
The subsidy will be provided next month once the billing software is upgraded for incorporating the new changes.
The amount of subsidy will be stated in the bill.
Consumers are required to pay only 70 per cent of the bill till the software is modified.
Domestic households may pay the electricity bill in 5 instalments until then.
Centre to investigate spike in bill amount
Power and New & Renewable Minister R K Singh said that the centre will investigate the reason for the spike in electricity bills in several states.
Consumers will be able to consume electricity at low rates throughout the day once the tariff revisions come into place, he said.
The minister in a virtual conference also attacked the various lobbies for resisting power sector reforms like revised power tariff policy and recently circulated draft Electricity Amendment Bill 2020.
He said that some people are spreading canards which have no basis.
On the Rs 90,000 crore liquidity package for discoms announced last month by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, the minister said that various states have evinced interest for seeking Rs 93,000 crore loan for their discoms under the package.
About the privatisation of discoms in the union territories, he told that the plan is under implementation.
He also said that government would keep checks on malware on imported power generation equipment.
Custom duty on solar equipment
The ministry has proposed basic custom duty (BCD) on solar equipment in the range of 15 to 25 per cent in first year which would eventually increase up to 40 per cent.
The ministry has proposed to impose 20 to 25 per cent BCD on solar modules which would be raised up to 40 per cent subsequently in second year.
It has also proposed 10 to 15 per cent BCD on solar cells in first year which would be raised up to 40 per cent subsequently in second year onwards.
Currently, there is no BCD on solar equipment.
However, a 15 per cent safeguard duty (SGD) is applicable on solar cells that would be zero or nil from July 30, 2020.
