Patna: New electricity tariff rates will come into effect in Bihar from April 1, 2026, with domestic consumers expected to benefit from lower effective power costs, particularly in urban areas.
The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced that electricity tariffs have neither been increased nor formally reduced. However, by merging two tariff slabs into a single slab for certain categories, the effective rate for many consumers will decrease.
BERC Chairman Amir Subhani said the revised structure will reduce the per-unit rate for several categories. The tariff for urban domestic consumers has effectively dropped by about Rs 1.53 per unit, while the rate for rural commercial consumers has decreased by 42 paise per unit and for urban commercial consumers by Rs 1.20 per unit. Around 27 lakh consumers are expected to benefit from the change.
The new tariff order will remain in force from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027. Officials said the actual benefit to consumers will depend on whether the state government continues the existing subsidy in the upcoming financial year.
According to the commission, an urban domestic consumer with a smart prepaid meter who consumes about 525 units of electricity per month could save around Rs 660 under the revised tariff structure, provided the current government subsidy continues.
Under the earlier system, the 400 units billed after the 125 units of free electricity fell into a higher tariff slab with a rate of Rs 8.95 per unit. After a subsidy of Rs 3.43 per unit, consumers effectively paid Rs 5.52 per unit.
With the slabs now merged, the base tariff has been fixed at Rs 7.42 per unit. If the state government continues its current subsidy of Rs 3.30 per unit, consumers would pay around Rs 4.12 per unit.
Smart prepaid meter users will get an additional benefit of 25 paise per unit. As a result, the energy charge for consuming 525 units of electricity will drop from about Rs 2,208 currently to around Rs 1,548, offering a saving of roughly Rs 660.
In rural areas, the electricity tariff remains Rs 7.42 per unit, but the state government currently provides a subsidy of Rs 4.97 per unit. This means rural domestic consumers pay an effective energy charge of Rs 2.45 per unit.
The tariff order also includes several other changes. The fixed charge for the LTIS-1 category has been reduced from Rs 288 to Rs 278, while the fixed charge for the LTIS-2 category has been lowered from Rs 360 to Rs 350.
The commission has also included mushroom cultivation under agricultural electricity connections. Oxygen consumers have been categorised under industrial consumers, and consumers with loads above 10 kilowatts will be eligible for Time-of-Day (TOD) tariff benefits, although agricultural connections are excluded from this provision.
