Tata Power option soon for Mumbai city consumers

Electricity consumers in Mumbai city, so far stuck with the municipality-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) for their power supply, may soon get to cut their bills by as much as 25 per cent by switching to Tata Power.

The appellate tribunal for electricity (ATE) on Saturday upheld the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) decision to allow Tata Power to supply electricity to consumers in the island city. But the rub is that the city's 10 lakh consumers can't hope to immediately switch suppliers, as Tata cannot use the BEST cable network. It will have to create its own supply network.

Consumers in the suburbs and satellite towns like Navi Mumbai have for some years been able to choose between Tata and Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure, as Tata uses the Reliance network to supply power to consumers. But in case of the city, BEST as a government undertaking cannot lease its lines to private companies.

The BEST had challenged the MERC order before the ATE about a year ago; and subsequently taken the matter to the Supreme Court, which sent back the final decision to ATE.

In its challenge of the MERC order, BEST had contended that it is an autonomous body controlled by the municipal corporation, and its network cannot be offered to other utilities. The ATE, in its judgment, said BEST's status as a local authority cannot hinder consumers' right to a choice of supplier.

The original MERC judgment had made it clear that Tata will have to lay a network within a year if it wants to supply power to city consumers. In areas where Tata has a sub-station, it must provide connections within three months of the receipt of consumers' applications and within one month in areas where it has a network, said the MERC order, adding that failure to do so would result in Tata being penalised.