Srinagar: The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I) has objected to a proposal by the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) to impose a 20 per cent surcharge on electricity consumed during peak hours. The business body described the proposal as “unjustified, punitive, and an attempt to shift the burden of systemic failures onto the people of Kashmir.”
The objection was presented during a hearing of KPDCL’s petition before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for J&K and Ladakh, where KCCI was represented by its Secretary General, Faiz Ahmad Bakshi. The session was chaired by Raj Kumar Choudhary along with Secretary JERC, Mohd Ashraf.
‘Consumers Being Penalised for Systemic Failures’
In its detailed submission, KCCI argued that the proposed surcharge effectively penalises consumers for decades of stagnation, mismanagement, and structural shortcomings in Kashmir’s power sector. The Chamber criticised KPDCL’s claim of not increasing tariffs, noting that imposing a surcharge during essential-use hours amounts to a concealed tariff hike.
“Electricity consumption during peak hours is a necessity for households, businesses, hospitals, and industries. Treating it as an additional charge is fundamentally unfair,” KCCI said.
Businesses Under Strain
The Chamber reiterated its demand for a complete waiver of demand charges on commercial consumers, citing recurring outages, damage to equipment, loss of production hours, and rising operating expenses. “The business community cannot bear further financial pressure when the power they receive is unstable, unpredictable and often unavailable,” Bakshi said.
Power Reliability Among the Worst in India
Presenting data before the Commission, KCCI highlighted that Kashmir has one of the lowest power reliability indices in India. Citing Central Electricity Authority figures for 2022, the Chamber said Kashmir’s System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) stands at 889, and the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) at 723.95 — several times higher than the national averages of 116.12 and 171.64 respectively. Even Jammu performs significantly better with SAIDI of 489 and SAIFI of 442.
“These numbers reveal that the Valley’s crisis is systemic, deep-rooted and long-standing,” KCCI said.
Stagnant Generation, Rising Imports
The Chamber noted that while J&K has an installed generation capacity of 3,540.15 MW, winter generation collapses to about 900–1,000 MW due to ageing infrastructure and delayed upgrades. No new power plants have been added since 2019, forcing the UT to purchase around 2,180 MW at high winter tariffs — a cost ultimately borne by consumers.
Unfinished Metering, High Losses
KCCI criticised KPDCL for failing to complete universal metering, which it said enables large-scale power pilferage and contributes to AT&C losses of nearly 45 percent. “Instead of addressing these losses, KPDCL seeks to impose a surcharge that unfairly targets genuine, bill-paying consumers,” the Chamber said.
Public Hardship Continues
The Chamber detailed the impact of chronic outages across Kashmir, including in low-loss feeders. Industries face production setbacks and machinery damage, households struggle during harsh winters, students preparing for exams face disruption, and hospitals rely heavily on diesel generators.
Under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, residents are legally entitled to compensation for service deficiencies. KCCI said KPDCL has failed to meet these obligations while simultaneously pushing for a surcharge.
Call for Reforms, Not Surcharge
KCCI urged the JERC to reject the proposed surcharge and direct KPDCL to focus instead on supply reliability improvements, loss reduction, completion of metering, infrastructure strengthening, and revival of stalled power projects.
“The consumers of Kashmir are already bearing the consequences of declining generation capacity, costly power imports, and chronic inefficiencies. They must not be burdened further,” the Chamber said.
KCCI reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding consumer rights and supporting the business community, stating that genuine consumers cannot continue to pay the price for long-standing operational failures in the power sector.
