Bihar govt to introduce Time of Day tariff for power consumers from April 1

The Bihar government has issued an order saying that all electricity consumers equipped with smart meters will have to pay at a higher rate during peak hours in the evening as the Bihar government is implementing the Time of Day (ToD) scheme from April 1, an official said on Wednesday.

The TOD tariff is an electricity pricing mechanism where rates vary based on the time of consumption, with higher rates during peak hours and lower rates during off-peak hours, Energy Department Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh told PTI.

Consumers in the state will get a rebate of up to 20 per cent for power consumption during daytime, according to the order.


The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) recently approved the ToD tariff scheme as demanded by power distribution companies: North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited.

The BERC divided the day into three consumption periods: 9 am to 5 pm (off-peak hours), 5 pm to 11 pm (peak hours), and 11 pm to 9 am (normal load hours).

According to the order, "Domestic consumers in rural (DS-I) and urban (DS-II) categories, using smart prepaid meters, will receive a 20 per cent rebate on the base tariff of Rs 7.42 per unit during off-peak hours, effectively bringing the rate down to Rs 5.94 per unit. During peak hours, consumers will be charged a 10 per cent premium, taking the rate to Rs 8.16 per unit, while consumption during the normal period from 11 p.m. to 9 am will be billed at the normal tariff of Rs 7.42 per unit."

There are around 8.7 million electricity consumers in Bihar using smart prepaid meters.

The Commission also approved the merger of both slabs of Domestic II (DS-II) and non-domestic (NDS-I, NDS-II) into one slab, keeping the energy charge of the existing lower slab.

This will result in an effective reduction of tariff (in terms of energy charge) by Rs 1.53/unit (DS-II), Rs 0.42/unit (NDS-I) and Rs 1.20/unit (NDS-II), says the order.

The TOD tariff is recognised globally across electricity industries as an important Demand Side Management measure used to incentivise consumers to shift a portion of their loads from peak times to off-peak times, thereby improving the system load factor by reducing the demand on the system during the peak period.