The Biz Reporter
Srinagar: The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC&I) has strongly opposed the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited’s proposal for imposing a twenty percent surcharge on electricity consumed during peak hours. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the proposed surcharge is unjustified, punitive and an attempt to shift the burden of systemic failures onto the people of Kashmir.
KCCI was represented by its Secretary General, Faiz Ahmad Bakshi, during the hearing of KPDCL’s petition before the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission of J&K, Ladakh, where a detailed and data-backed submission was presented on behalf of the Chamber.
KCCI said the proposed surcharge effectively penalises consumers for circumstances created by stagnation, mismanagement and chronic shortcomings in Kashmir’s power sector.
The Chamber said it was disingenuous for KPDCL to assert that it has not raised tariffs, while simultaneously proposing a surcharge during peak hours, which are essential-use periods for most households, businesses, hospitals and industries. Since electricity consumption during these hours is a necessity and not a discretionary choice, treating it as an additional charge is fundamentally unfair.
KCCI said it has also sought a complete waiver of demand charges on commercial consumers, who are already under immense strain due to recurring outages, damage to equipment, loss of production hours and rising operational expenses. The Chamber maintained that the business community cannot bear further financial pressure when the power they receive is unstable, unpredictable and often unavailable when needed the most.
Presenting figures before the Commission, KCCI Secretary General said Kashmir now has the worst power reliability in India. As per Central Electricity Authority figures for 2022, the System Average Interruption Duration Index for Kashmir stands at a shocking 889, while the System Average Interruption Frequency Index stands at 723.95. These numbers are several times higher than the national averages of 116.12 and 171.64. Even Jammu, despite its own problems, performs significantly better with a SAIDI of 489 and SAIFI of 442. KCCI said these figures reveal that the Valley’s crisis is systemic, deep-rooted and long-standing.
KCCI said that although J&K has an installed generation capacity of 3,540.15 MW, winter generation collapses to about 900–1,000 MW. The Chamber pointed out that no new power plant has been added to the Union Territory’s generation fleet since 2019, and the output from existing plants has declined due to ageing infrastructure and delayed upgrades. Because of this stagnation, J&K is forced to purchase about 2,180 MW from outside at high winter tariffs, a cost that ultimately burdens honest consumers who already endure unreliable service.
KCCI highlighted that KPDCL has still not completed universal metering, a gap that enables large-scale power theft and contributes to extraordinarily high AT&C losses of around forty-five percent. Instead of fixing these losses or upgrading outdated distribution networks, KPDCL seeks to impose a surcharge that unfairly targets genuine bill-paying consumers. KCCI said it is unacceptable that honest users should pay the price for institutional inefficiencies, structural gaps and lack of effective enforcement.
The Chamber said consumers across Kashmir continue to suffer long, unannounced power cuts even in feeders officially classified as low-loss. Industries face severe production setbacks, machinery damage and failure to meet supply commitments. Households struggle during harsh winter months when heating, cooking and daily survival depend entirely on electricity. Students preparing for examinations are regularly forced to study without power, while hospitals and essential services run on diesel generators, increasing costs and compromising service quality.
KCCI reminded the Commission that under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, residents of Jammu & Kashmir have a legal right to compensation for service deficiencies. Rule 13 mandates automatic compensation mechanisms for outages and delays. The Chamber said it is deeply concerning that, instead of fulfilling these obligations, KPDCL is attempting to introduce a surcharge when service quality continues to deteriorate.
KCCI said imposing such a surcharge violates basic principles of fairness, transparency and regulatory accountability. Before seeking any financial concessions or tariff restructuring, KPDCL must demonstrate real improvements in supply reliability, reduction of losses, completion of metering, infrastructure strengthening and revival of pending generation projects. Without these reforms, any surcharge would serve only to deepen public suffering while leaving the root causes of the crisis unaddressed.
The Chamber urged the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission to reject the proposed twenty percent surcharge and instead direct KPDCL to prioritise system improvement, transparent loss reduction measures, structural reforms and accelerated completion of stalled power projects. KCCI said the consumers of Kashmir are already bearing the consequences of the worst reliability indices in India, declining generation capacity, costly power imports and chronic inefficiencies, and must not be burdened further.
KCCI reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding consumer rights and supporting the business community, asserting that genuine consumers cannot continue to pay the price for long-standing operational and structural failures within the power sector.
