The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has extended the Discounted Energy Rate Scheme (DERS) to open access consumers.

A reduced tariff will apply to consumers under DERS.

With open access consumers coming under DERS’ ambit, the reduced tariff will apply to consumers across all categories.

The DERS, which will be in force until the financial year (FY) 2028, allows consumers to avail electricity at reduced tariffs based on seasonal variations in power consumption within a financial year, during monsoon/off-season from July to December.

However, open access consumers participating in the program will not be able to avail the additional 20% contract demand and must pay a penalty for exceeding the contract demand.

The base consumption for consumers across all tariff categories who opt for the program in FY 2027 and FY 2028 will be calculated as the average of the monthly consumption in FY 2025 and FY 2026.

If complete data on power consumption for FY 2025 and FY 2026 are not available, the base consumption will be calculated based on the average monthly consumption over at least six months of available data.

For new installations or installations with less than six months of consumption data, the base consumption will be calculated at a fixed rate of 67 units/kVA for high-tension (HT) installations and 57 units/kW for low-tension (LT) installations. These rates for calculating base consumption will be revised once the six-month data becomes available, but will only be applicable prospectively.

For existing installations with increased contract demand, the base consumption for the enhanced load portion will be calculated at 67 units/KVA for HT installations and 57 units/KW for LT installations.

This newly calculated base consumption will be added to the existing base consumption to arrive at the final base consumption. The newly calculated base consumption will not be revised even after six months from the load enhancement date.

If the existing installation reduces its contract demand, the base consumption will remain the same, and no downward revision will be allowed.

In February, the Commission had halved the applicable additional surcharge to ₹0.4 (~$0.004)/kWh to open access consumers.

Last year, KERC proposed reducing the cross-subsidy and cross-subsidy surcharge for open access consumers starting in FY 2026.

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