KSEB to charge 1 paise per unit surcharge in July for bi-monthly consumers to recover fuel costs

A fuel surcharge of one paise per unit will be collected in July from electricity consumers billed on a bi-monthly basis, while no surcharge will be levied on monthly-billed consumers

The surcharge, levied by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) on bills issued in July, is meant to recover the additional spending on power purchases in May 2026 on account of the variations in the price of fuel used in power generating generating units.

For arriving at the decision, the KSEB had taken into account purchases made from 18 central generating stations and independent power producers in May.

The fuel surcharge is levied under an automatic cost recovery mechanism allowed by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions for Determination of Tariff) (First amendment) Regulations which took effect in 2023.

To avoid tariff shock on the ordinary consumer, the Regulatory Commission had initially set 10 paise per unit as the monthly limit that can be collected under the regulation. However, following a State government policy directive, this cap had been removed.