By Our Reporter The government has decided to increase the electricity tariff by 20 per cent effective from July 16. The increase was made at the recommendation of Commission for Fixing the Electricity Tariff. Earlier, the government had increased the tariff in 2012. The Nepal Electrify Authority now onward will charge the consumers on the basis of bulk system, which means the consumers who use more power will be paying higher price per unit and those who consume less power will get it at a cheaper price. After the enforcement of the new tariff system, a household that consumes 32 units of electricity will have to pay only Rs 347. ETFC has fixed Rs 75 as service charge for 31 to 50 units and per unit rate of Rs 8.50. If a household uses 50 units, it has to pay Rs 500 as per the revised tariff rates. The service charge ranges from Rs 30 to Rs 175 for household users who consume electricity from 20 units to over 400 units. However, the earthquake victims possessing identity card of victims will be paying only energy fee until 2018 as they are exempted service charge. The Commission said in a press statement that the tariff was increased considering the financial condition of NEA and the increasing cost required generating power. The increase in tariff has added burden to both the landlords and tenants. Most house owners ask the tenants Rs 12 per unit power they consume while the cost is normally below Rs 9. As such, the rate of house/flat rent will also increase. Moreover, the people are forced to pay more for power even though they are supplied power only 12 hours a day. With the increase in power tariffs the costs of commodity goods will also increase.