How to Pay the Bills?

The report investigates the financial instability of electricity distribution companies (discoms) in Rajasthan, India, and uses survey data to analyze consumer attitudes toward tariff reform. It finds a widespread lack of awareness regarding the scale of electricity subsidies and strong opposition to price increases due to the high proportion of household budgets spent on power. However, it identifies potential for reform among urban populations and a minority willing to pay more for improved reliability.

• There is a significant lack of awareness among consumers regarding the existence and scale of electricity subsidies. Only about half of the surveyed households were aware that electricity prices are subsidized, and among those who were, knowledge of the actual scale was limited.
• Higher electricity prices would cause significant welfare losses for households because electricity is a major budget item. Total energy expenditure (including electricity and cooking fuel) accounts for 32% of household spending, and 80% of respondents stated that even small price increases would force them to cut critical expenditures.
• A minority of households (30%) expressed a willingness to pay higher prices in exchange for more reliable and uninterrupted power supply. However, 80% of those willing to pay would only accept a maximum increase of 5%.
• Attitudes toward reform vary by geography and education. Urban areas, particularly Jaipur, show more openness to price increases and a better understanding of the rationale for reform compared to rural areas.
• Poor power reliability significantly impacts productivity, with 65% of respondents reporting a high impact. This creates a tension where consumers suffer from outages but often lack confidence that higher tariffs will actually result in improved service.
• The report recommends that tariff reform be implemented gradually and paired with mitigation measures, such as direct benefit transfers (DBT) or energy-efficiency schemes like the UJALA LED program, to protect vulnerable households.

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} }