Under a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has increased the price of electricity for residential consumers by up to Rs7.5 per unit or kilowatt hours (kWh). This new tariff takes effect from July 1 and consumers will likely receive inflated electricity bills next month.

You can use Aaj News calculator to estimate how much you will be paying in monthly electricity bill as early as in the next few weeks when the bills for the month of July are dispatched.

The hike will affect almost every household in the country despite the government’s claims about zero impact for “protected consumers”.

Under the rules, if a consumer uses less than 200 units of electricity per month for several months in a row, they become protected consumers. But the status is revoked the movement their electricity consumption goes beyond 200 units – something many families cannot avoid.

Hence, the tariff hike hurts everyone from low-income households who use only one or two fans and a refrigerator to people living in plush houses running multiple airconditioning units.

Aaj News Calculator

The calculation takes into account 18% GST but does not include several other charges that electricity companies collect from consumers such as Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA). So, your electricity bill could a few thousand higher than the estimate provided by this calculator.

Following an Rs4 per unit increase, people consuming only up to 100 units will be paying Rs16.48 per unit, and this is the price without the GST. After adding an 18% GST, the per unit price for these consumer goes up and they will pay Rs19.45.

For most of the middle-income families who use between 300 and 400 units per month, the price has been increased by Rs6.5 per unit and they will be paying around Rs38 per unit.

The following table provides detail on the price increase and the per unit price of electricity before adding 18% GST.