Former Haryana Finance Minister and national patron of the Indian National Lok Dal Sampat Singh on Wednesday appeared before the State Electricity Regulatory Commission and demanded immediate withdrawal of fixed charges, increased electricity tariffs and fuel surcharge.Mr. Singh said the Central government’s UDAY scheme was implemented in the State in 2015, under which the State government took over ₹25,950 crore loan from the power distribution companies (discoms). However, the utilities have once again fallen into a cycle of debt and losses.Recently, the Union Power Minister informed Parliament that as of March 2025, Haryana’s power utilities have outstanding debt of ₹20,311 crore, and their accumulated losses have increased to ₹27,915 crore. The financial condition of the utilities is again becoming alarming.Although the discoms reported a profit of ₹712.72 crore in 2023–24 and projected a profit of ₹1,605 crore for the upcoming financial year 2026–27, this profit was adjusted into the Annual Revenue Requirement for 2024–25. Furthermore, the power utilities have sought an additional ₹4,484 crore for the next financial year.Mr. Singh said unnecessary fixed charges have been imposed on the consumers in addition to tariff hike since last year. While the domestic consumers are being charged an additional ₹50 to ₹75 per kilowatt, for the industrial consumers, the tariffs have been increased and fixed charges have also been raised from ₹165 per kilowatt to ₹290 per kilowatt. “In comparison, Delhi charges approximately ₹125 per kilowatt. Rajasthan charges approximately ₹160 per kilowatt. Such high fixed charges may trigger industrial migration from Haryana,” he added.‘Not minor levies’Fixed charges are not minor levies, he said. In FY 2025–26 and FY 2026–27, the collection through fixed charges alone is expected to reach nearly ₹20,000 crore, over and above the normal electricity tariffs, he claimed.Mr. Singh described the Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA) as a “never-ending burden.” Currently, it is being charged at ₹0.47 per unit. It was announced in April 2023 and was supposed to be fully recovered by June 2024, but it is proposed to continue into the coming year as well. He urged the Regulatory Commission to inform consumers in one consolidated statement regarding the FSA already recovered and the outstanding amount.Outstanding duesMr. Singh stated that approximately 22 lakh consumers have pending electricity bills amounting to ₹8,000 crore and the burden of these unpaid dues was ultimately being borne by honest and regular consumers. The State government previously assumed the debt of the power utilities, it should now also take responsibility for the ₹8,000 crore outstanding electricity dues, he demanded.He also referred to several financial irregularities and demanded transparency and accountability in the functioning of the power utilities. Published - February 26, 2026 01:17 am IST