Bhubaneswar: Power consumers in Odisha had a sigh of relief today as the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) kept power tariff unchanged while rejecting petitions by Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (OHPC) and Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC).

Both OPGC and OHPC had moved the OERC seeking a hike in power tariff after it was increased by 10 paise per unit on March 23. They had sought an average power tariff hike of Rs 2 per unit.

"OHPC had asked for income tax reimbursement of Rs 40 crore from Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO) but the commission rejected it as it does not come under the purview of review application. On the other hand, OPGC had sought guarantee commission and working capital loan to reimburse in tariff and it has been rejected as well," said OERC Director, Regulatory Affairs, Priyabrata Pattnaik.