Lucknow: Residents of Uttar Pradesh are set to face another financial burden amid rising prices of petrol, diesel, CNG, and PNG. The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has decided to increase electricity bills by imposing a 10% fuel surcharge on consumers.
According to UPPCL, electricity bills issued in June 2026 will include an additional 10% fuel surcharge, effectively increasing the overall cost of power consumption for consumers across the state.
Significant Burden on Consumers
The management of UPPCL has issued orders to recover the fuel surcharge for March 2026 through electricity bills generated in June. In its order, the corporation stated that the applicable fuel surcharge should be 20%, indicating that consumers may face another 10% surcharge in their July bills as well.
Consumer Council Opposes Fuel Surcharge Recovery
The State Electricity Consumer Council has strongly objected to the recovery of the 10% fuel surcharge. The council alleges that power distribution companies have inflated the surcharge amount by including pending dues from the past two years.
The council has urged the Chief Minister to order an investigation into the matter and has also requested the Electricity Regulatory Commission to stay the implementation of the surcharge order. Notably, a similar 10% fuel surcharge was recovered from consumers in February this year.
Questions Raised Over Power Purchase Costs
The Consumer Council further pointed out that the Electricity Regulatory Commission had approved an actual power purchase cost of ₹4.94 per unit in its tariff order. However, UPPCL reportedly calculated power purchases for March 2026 at ₹5.86 per unit, resulting in an additional burden of approximately ₹1,610 crore on consumers.
The council has argued that this discrepancy needs thorough examination before any further surcharge is imposed on electricity users in the state.