BEST hints at rate hike, a day after losing case against Tatas

Mumbai: The state-run Bombay Suburban Electricity and Transport hinted at an increase in its electricity tariff today, for its low-end residential customers, to recover the loss it would suffer for losing its high-end consumers to Tata Power. The development comes a day after the Supreme Court dismissed BEST's petition against Tata Power's bid to enter its network area in the southern parts of the city. “The Supreme Court order allows Tata Power to supply electricity in our network area, but since it does not have its own distribution infrastructure here, it will not have a major impact on us.“However, this could impact low-end consumers who consume up to 300 units, since their tariff may have to be hiked to recover the financial impact due to a possible switch-over,” BEST General Manager O P Gupta said during a committee meeting here.Yesterday, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition filed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation -owned BEST objecting to Tata Power's bid to enter its distribution area.Currently, BEST has 10 lakh consumers, out of which 6.56 lakh consume up to 300 units.“High-end residential and commercial consumers are likely to switchover to the Tatas, as their rates are cheaper than ours.“If this happens, it will negatively impact our business plans approved by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Committee for FY16. Since this will impact our revenue, we will have to increase tariff for low-end consumers, to compensate for the loss of high-end consumers,” Gupta said.