MERC approved BEST's ARR true-up for FY2022-24, provisional true-up for FY2024-25, and a 5-year MYT (FY2025-26 to FY2029-30) with revised category-wise tariffs and ToD structure
Case of The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) for approval of True-up of Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24, Provisional True-up of FY 2024-25 and ARR Projections and Multi Year Tariff for 5th Control Period from FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30
BEST filed a combined MYT petition under MERC MYT Regulations 2019/2024 seeking (i) true-up of actual ARR for FY2022-23 and FY2023-24, (ii) provisional true-up of FY2024-25, and (iii) approval of ARR projections and multi-year tariffs for the 5th Control Period (FY2025-26 to FY2029-30). Under Sections 61, 62 and 86 of the Electricity Act 2003, MERC examined power purchase costs, O&M, capex, RoE, distribution losses, smart meter costs and stakeholder objections (standby charges, EV tariffs, wheeling charges, smart meter legality) before finalising the revenue requirement and tariffs.
- Approved true-up of BEST's ARR for FY2022-23 and FY2023-24 after scrutinising power purchase, O&M, capex, depreciation, interest and RoE claims
- Approved provisional true-up of ARR for FY2024-25 pending final reconciliation
- Approved MYT ARR projections and category-wise tariffs for 5th Control Period FY2025-26 to FY2029-30
- Approved multi-year Time-of-Day (ToD) tariff structure with peak surcharge of +20% (5-7 pm) and solar-hour rebates deepening from -15%/-25% (FY26) to -20%/-30% (FY28-30)
- Directed disallowance of additional tariff recovery from consumers on smart meters until legality of installed smart meters is decided; flagged Rs. 27 crore smart meter spend for scrutiny
- Addressed objections on standby charges, EV charging tariff, virtual net metering, kVAh billing and wheeling charges, issuing specific directions/rulings on each
- Revised tariffs across all consumer categories (LT III, IV, V, VI, HT I etc.) effective 1 April 2025, with pre-set annual tariff tables through FY2029-30
- ToD tariff mandatorily applicable to LT/HT categories above 10 kW connected load, optional for smaller loads with ToD meters
- BEST to resolve legality of installed smart meters before recovering additional tariff-related costs from consumers
- BEST directed to provide a two-page ARR summary to consumers along with bills
- Commission to review provisional FY2024-25 figures at next true-up filing
- BEST to comply with directions on EV charging infrastructure in bus depots and solar farm installations at depots
- • C&I consumers under LT III/HT I face a multi-year tariff schedule (FY26-FY30) enabling forward planning of power costs, with wheeling charges also fixed for each year
- • ToD tariff design (peak +20%, solar-hour rebates up to -30%) creates strong incentive for C&I loads to shift consumption to solar hours and adopt captive/RE solutions to avoid peak charges
- • Open access and RE developers should track final wheeling charge trajectory and cross-subsidy surcharge implications embedded in these approved tariffs for site economics
- • Uncertainty over smart meter legality could affect metering-based billing and open access transaction verification for C&I consumers on BEST's network
For developers and C&I buyers in BEST's license area, the approved 5-year tariff and ToD trajectory gives welcome revenue certainty for solar-plus-storage or captive RE deals, especially given the widening solar-hour rebate that improves paybacks for daytime-consumption-heavy loads. However, the unresolved smart-meter legality issue and provisional (not final) FY24-25 true-up mean actual bill impact could still shift; commercial teams should build in a tariff-true-up risk buffer and monitor the next order for final FY24-25 numbers and any smart meter cost pass-through changes.
Growthifye does not take responsibility for the accuracy of this information. Values are compiled from tariff orders published on the websites of State Electricity Regulatory Commissions and distribution licensees (plus CEA / MoP / Grid-India), parsed automatically and shown with their source. Always verify against the signed order before any commercial decision. This one-pager is a Vidura-assisted summary of the official order; the signed order prevails.