How to Pay the Bills?

This report presents the findings of a household survey of 1,000 consumers in Rajasthan, India, examining public attitudes toward electricity tariff reform. It highlights a significant lack of awareness regarding electricity subsidies, strong public opposition to price increases due to the high share of electricity in household budgets, and a limited but existing willingness to pay more for improved power reliability. The report suggests that reform should be gradual, demographically targeted (particularly in urban areas like Jaipur), and accompanied by mitigation measures and improved service quality.

• There is a widespread lack of awareness among electricity consumers in Rajasthan regarding the existence and scale of electricity subsidies. Only about half of the surveyed consumers knew that electricity prices are subsidized, and among those who did, knowledge of the actual scale was limited.
• Public opposition to electricity tariff reform is high, with 80% of respondents viewing price increases intended to cover distribution company (discom) costs as either unreasonable or highly unreasonable. However, this opposition is not uniform; 40% of respondents in Jaipur viewed such increases as reasonable or somewhat reasonable.
• Electricity represents a major portion of household spending in Rajasthan, making consumers highly sensitive to price changes. Total energy expenditure accounts for 32% of household budgets, with electricity alone making up 21%. Consequently, 80% of respondents stated that even small price increases would force them to cut spending on critical items like food, health, and education.
• While a majority of consumers oppose higher prices, 30% of households expressed a willingness to pay more for a more reliable and uninterrupted power supply. This willingness was most prominent in the districts of Jaipur and Dausa, though most of these respondents would only accept a maximum increase of 5%.
• Power outages significantly impact daily productivity in Rajasthan, with approximately 70% of respondents reporting a noticeable effect. The severity of outages varies by region; for instance, nearly 40% of respondents in Dausa reported average power cuts lasting five hours or longer, whereas 23% of urban consumers reported no power cuts at all.
• The financial state of Rajasthan's electricity sector is critical, with the state ranking worst in discom debt among all Indian states. Rajasthan's discoms hold a total debt of INR 80,500 crore (USD 12 billion), representing nearly one-fifth of India's total discom debt.
• Education level correlates with the understanding of electricity subsidies. Approximately 70% of respondents who understood that costs were shared by both the government and consumers had middle- or higher-level schooling.
• The report recommends that tariff reform be implemented gradually and paired with mitigation measures to protect vulnerable households. Suggested mechanisms include direct benefit transfers (DBT), energy-efficiency schemes like the UJALA LED program, and the use of stretched block tariff systems to target wealthier urban consumers.

APA

Garg, V., Sanchez, L., Bridle, R., & Clarke, K. (2016). How to Pay the Bills? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-public-attitudes-electricity-tariff-reform-rajasthan.pdf

Chicago

Garg, Vibhuti, Lourdes Sanchez, Richard Bridle, and Kieran Clarke. How to Pay the Bills? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-public-attitudes-electricity-tariff-reform-rajasthan.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Garg |first1=Vibhuti |last2=Sanchez |first2=Lourdes |last3=Bridle |first3=Richard |last4=Clarke |first4=Kieran |title=How to Pay the Bills? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-public-attitudes-electricity-tariff-reform-rajasthan.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{garg2016how, author = {Garg, Vibhuti and Sanchez, Lourdes and Bridle, Richard and Clarke, Kieran}, title = {{How to Pay the Bills?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-public-attitudes-electricity-tariff-reform-rajasthan.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }