Ashok Basak, MSEB chairman, pointed out that the tariff revision was carried out in such a manner that 65 per cent of domestic consumers of power would not be affected at all by the exercise, which was necessary to augment financial resources of the MSEB.

Explaining the new tariff structure, Basak said that consumption of 50 units before the revision was costing Rs 42 at the rate of 84 paise per unit. This figure remains constant in the revised tariff structure, both in letter and in spirit. Out of the total 84.14 lakh consumers, 53.24 lakh consumers in the domestic sector either use 50 units or less in a month.

Similarly, about 17 lakh domestic consumers, who use 100 or less units in a month would face a marginal hike of 0.34per cent in the electricity tariff. In other words, they would pay Rs 147 according to the revised structure against Rs 146.5 they used to pay before the revision.

However, the high end consumers, who use between 150 and 500 units per month, would face a stiff hike ranging between 15 to 22 per cent in the revised tariff structure, Basak, said. However, the domestic consumers in this category were less than 14 lakh. ``Some people will have to pay to keep up the social infrastructure'' he said, justifying the revision.

Domestic users in any case were not major contributors to the MSEB's annual revenue of Rs 10,000 crore. Overall domestic revenue before tariff revision was Rs 874 crore which would go up to Rs 902 crore. In a full financial year the MSEB revenue would go up by 7.3 per cent.

The revised tariff structure has absorbed the fuel cost adjustment (FCA) into the base tariff leaving the FCA part of the tariff as nil for the present. Any escalation in the cost of fuel would affect the final tariffpayable by the consumers. ``In the near future there may not be any escalation in fuel cost'', Basak assured. Meanwhile, the MSEB has begun to tighten its grip over the power business by plugging the loopholes in its metering, billing and collection machinery. A concerted drive has been launched to identify faulty meters and recovering dues from the high tension consumers.

Similarly, the board has taken measure to prevent power theft. According to Basak, many medium to large scale steel and power loom units were indulging in systematic theft of electricity. ``We have identified them and initiated criminal action against them'', he said.

A committee has also been set up to analyse the proposal for selectively privatising transmission and distribution networks in Navi Mumbai. The committee is expected to submit its report in the next two months.

These measures were being taken in view of the Rajadhyaksh Committee's report which had strongly recommended privatisation of transmission and distribution. Theidea was to set up joint venture company comprising the MSEB, City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and private companies to take over the distribution in selective areas.