Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL or MahaDiscom) submitted its Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) for 2006-07 in February 2006. MahaDiscom claimed a tariff increase of about 7350 Cr (hike of 138 paisa/kWh or 43%) in FY07. MERC held two technical validation sessions on this issue. Prayas participated in both the sessions and demanded that significant data should be made public as part of ARR, which was accepted by MERC. Based on analysis of this data Prayas submitted its detailed comments on MahaDiscom’s ARR for FY07. Following are the key highlights of Prayas’s analysis:

1. Justified tariff hike required in FY07 is 7.8% (1300 Cr) as against 43% (7350 Cr) projected by MahaDiscom.
2. T&D losses in the state are still about 38%.
3. Tariff hike for a consumer category should be related with the quantum of load shedding (or supply quality) for that category.
4. Urban - rural disparity in the present load shedding protocol in the state should be reduced.
5. MahaDiscom should be held accountable in order to improve its performance.