In January 2023, India reported an electricity consumption of around 126.16 billion units. The triple-digit power consumption may seem fair owing to the huge demand in India. Today, people in almost all corners of the country have access to quality power; however, many do not know how electricity bill calculated.
You may have also recently paid the electricity bill for your house or building. But have you ever thought about how the electricity bill is calculated? What are the various fees, charges, and tariffs? Well, if not, here is a detailed piece for you that gives you a detailed insight into electricity bill calculation and the related tariffs. So, read on to know more about it!
How is your electricity calculated?
Knowing how to calculate electricity bills is something that you must be aware of. It helps you know the electricity consumption of your home so you can better manage your budget and save electricity. There are two ways in which you can calculate electricity consumption, through the online calculator of your power supplier or manually.
Through Power Supplier
Many power suppliers offer you the feature of calculating the electricity consumption of your house on their official website. However, not every energy provider offers this facility. Here are the steps to be followed:
- Log in to the official website of your local power supplier
- Choose the option of ‘web self-service’ on the webpage
- Now click on the ‘energy bill calculator
- From the options available, you have to choose your ‘supply type’ and ‘tariff’
- Further, you also need to enter your sanctioned load, phase, connection load, and consumption
- Submit the details and the final bill will be calculated and displayed.
Manually
In case your local power supply board does not offer an electricity bill calculator or you want to do it on your own, here are the steps for the same:
- Check your smart meter and note down the current and previous electricity consumption.
- Subtract the current meter reading from the previous meter reading to know the exact current electricity consumption.
- Now, you need to multiply the net current electricity consumption by the charges per unit. The following example will help you understand the calculation:
Suppose, your net current electricity unit consumption is 250 units. If the charges for the first 100 units is ₹4 and for the next 101-200 units is ₹5.22, and for 201-300 units, the charges are ₹5.50 per unit, then your electricity bill will be:
100*4 + 100*5.22 + 50*5.50
= ₹1197.
You may also be charged the fixed fee (₹40) and the energy duty (₹0.15 per unit). Adding all of these will be:
₹1197+40+38= ₹1275 for 250 units
Telescopic Tariff
You should also keep in mind the telescopic tariff. Here, the tariff, or the electricity charged as per the slabs of consumption. A higher consumption slab is charged at a gradually increasing rate.
This structure is designed to ensure that there is no overlapping of slabs.
For example:
- 0-100 Units charged at ₹3.50
- 101-150 Units charged at ₹4.00.
The tariff aims to provide basic minimum electricity at reasonable rates while the comforts and luxury at a comparatively higher rate.
Note: The tariffs for different states and cities will be different. The above rates are mere assumptions.
Tariffs in Major Cities
The electricity tariffs are charged differently in different cities and for different consumers. For commercial usage, the electricity tariffs are higher than for domestic consumers because commercial buildings use power for long hours and have higher load permissions. For your reference, here is the list of electricity tariffs for major cities in India:
| City | Tariffs per unit |
| Delhi | ₹5.23 |
| Kolkata | ₹6.46 |
| Mumbai | ₹11.27 |
| Bengaluru | ₹5.58 |
| Hyderabad | From ₹5.1 |
| Tamil Nadu | ₹1.60 |
Note: The tariffs for different states may differ with time.
On average, electricity consumers in Mumbai pay some of the highest bills in the country. The charges per unit, on average, is ₹11.27. On the contrary, in Tamil Nadu, the electricity charges are quite low at approximately ₹1.60 per unit.
Apart from the tariffs per unit, there are various other fees added to the electricity bill. These may include the fixed rate, two-part tariffs, peak load, tariffs, and so on. So, depending on the city you are living in, the rates and the charges differ. You may contact your local power supplier to better understand the electricity bill calculation in your area.
To Conclude
Electricity is one of the basic and quintessential resources for any country, especially India. Hence, it is very important to try and save as much as we can. The very first step towards saving electricity is knowing how much power consumption is happening in your home/building. In the next step, you may track the overuse or unnecessary electricity usage.
Make sure to use alternatives to electricity like solar energy, and low-power consumption appliances, and inculcate energy-saving habits.
Let’s do our bit towards a responsible society. Save electricity!
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