GCCI calls for fair power tariff on common services in apartments

NT Reporter

Panaji

The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has urged the Joint Electricity Regulatory Authority (JERA) to scrap a provision that compels residential housing complexes to pay electricity bills for common services at the highest applicable tariff slab, calling the rule unfair and financially burdensome for ordinary apartment
residents.

In a representation dated February 20, addressed to the secretary of JERA and copied to the Chief Electrical Engineer of the Electricity Department, GCCI president Pratima Dhond sought the removal of Regulation 5.56 of the Supply Code Regulations 2018. The regulation mandates that electricity consumed for common services — including lifts, water pumping systems, and corridor lighting — be billed entirely at the highest tariff slab of the applicable category.

The Chamber noted that, while the provision was originally intended to simplify administration and prevent cross-subsidy distortions, it now imposes a disproportionate financial burden on residents of multi-storeyed housing complexes. GCCI argued that unlike luxury or commercial consumers, apartment common meters serve essential habitation needs shared across dozens or hundreds of households, making peak-slab billing inequitable.

“Although such consumption is measured through a single meter, the actual usage is distributed across multiple dwelling units,” the representation states. “Billing the aggregate consumption at the highest slab is inconsistent with the very principle of progressive, slab-based domestic tariffs.”

The GCCI has recommended that JERA adopt a more rational and equitable tariff framework for residential common services.

— one that reflects actual consumption rather than penalising residents for living in an apartment complex.