Commercial electricity connection for a shop or office in Karnataka: tariff, documents, load

Who must take a commercial (LT-3) connection

KERC's tariff schedule LT-3(a) covers commercial lighting, heating and motive power. The list in the 2025 tariff order is long: shops and stores, hotels and restaurants, clinics and diagnostic centres, banks, all offices, beauty parlours, bakery shops, photo studios, computer centres, garages and service stations, petrol bunks, kalyana mantapas, private hostels, paying-guest buildings run as separate premises, and lifts in commercial complexes. Hoardings and advertisement boards have their own category, LT-3(b).

There is one useful exception. The domestic schedule (LT-1) allows a portion of a house to be used by the person living there for listed small activities, such as consultancy by an engineer, architect, doctor, lawyer or chartered accountant, tailoring, job typing, a beauty parlour or a home stay of one to six rooms where the owner lives in the house. A separate shop with its own entrance, a rented office or a clinic with staff is not covered by that exception.

What the commercial tariff costs in 2026

Commercial supply is billed in two parts: a fixed charge on the sanctioned load in kW, and an energy charge on every unit. There is no slab. The 2025 order fixed the rates for three years, and the March 2026 review raised them.

On top of these come the pension and gratuity surcharge (35 paise per unit in 2026-27), electricity tax and any fuel adjustment that KERC allows. Shops in village panchayat areas get a rebate of 20 paise per unit, except those panchayats that fall inside an urban development authority.

A rough example. A 5 kW shop that uses 600 units a month pays about ₹1,175 in fixed charges and ₹4,260 in energy charges at the reported revised rates, before surcharge and tax. Commercial premises do not get Gruha Jyothi. That scheme is for domestic connections only; see our Gruha Jyothi guide.

Documents: what the counter asks for

Apply online on your ESCOM's portal or at the subdivision office. The exact list varies a little between BESCOM, MESCOM, CESC Mysuru, HESCOM and GESCOM, but you will usually need the following.

The two items that hold up most shop connections are the owner's no-objection letter and the occupancy certificate. Commercial buildings are expected to have an OC. If yours does not, read our guide to connections without an OC before you sign a long lease.

Many ESCOMs now fit smart meters on new connections. BESCOM made them compulsory in 2025, and in April 2025 the Karnataka High Court passed an interim order staying the mandatory installation. Ask the subdivision what applies on the day you apply and what the meter costs.

How much load to apply for

Fixed charges are billed on the sanctioned load every month, used or not, so do not over-ask. But if your actual demand goes above the sanctioned load, you will face a penalty or a forced load enhancement later. Add up what will run together at the busiest hour.

A small shop with two ACs and normal lighting usually lands at 5 to 7 kW. Above 5 kW the ESCOM gives three-phase supply, and three-phase also spreads the AC load better. Use the nameplate ratings of your actual equipment, not this table, when you fill the form.

The sign board on the shop front is part of your own premises and can run on your LT-3(a) meter. A hoarding or advertisement board rented out to an agency is LT-3(b), which has a higher energy rate.

Worked example: a small café in a rented ground floor

A tenant takes a 500 sq ft ground-floor space in a town to run a café. The building has one domestic meter for the owner's house upstairs.

1. Load. Two 1.5 ton ACs, a coffee machine, a display fridge, a small oven, lights, billing and CCTV. Not everything runs together, but at the busy evening hour the total comes to about 7 kW. That is above 5 kW, so the ESCOM gives three-phase supply. See single-phase vs three-phase.
2. Wiring. A separate DB for the café with its own isolator, RCCB and a circuit for each AC and the oven. Nothing in the café is fed from the owner's house wiring.
3. Documents. Registered lease, owner's no-objection letter, the owner's khata and tax receipt, trade licence and the contractor's test report.
4. Meter. A new LT-3(a) meter on the building's meter board, next to the owner's domestic meter.
5. Backup. If the owner wants a generator for power cuts, it goes through a changeover switch; see DG set rules.

If the ESCOM does not act within the time limit on a complete application, write to the subdivision and quote the application number. Our post on ESCOM delays and compensation explains your rights.

Running a shop on a domestic meter: the penalty

It is common to see a ground-floor shop or a small office drawing power from the owner's house meter. It is cheaper per unit, and the shop may even fall inside the family's Gruha Jyothi limit. It is also unauthorised use under Section 126 of the Electricity Act, 2003: using electricity for a purpose other than the one it was sanctioned for.

• The assessing officer bills the misuse at twice the tariff of the correct category.
• The assessment covers the whole period of misuse. Where that period cannot be fixed, it is limited to the 12 months before the inspection.
• The house can also lose Gruha Jyothi benefit, because the scheme is for domestic use only.
• Back-billing for a year at double the commercial rate can easily run into lakhs for a busy shop or clinic.

Wiring a shop so it passes inspection

• A separate distribution board for the shop with an isolator, a 30 mA RCCB for socket circuits and MCBs sized to each circuit.
• Dedicated circuits for each AC and for the sign board, which sits outside in the rain.
• Its own earth pit or a properly tested connection to the building earth. See our earthing and testing checklist.
• Fire-retardant (FR or FRLS) cable and metal-clad boards in kitchens, bakeries and anywhere with heat.
• Room for the meter at a reachable height, away from water and the shutter channel.

If you later add an oven, a second AC or an EV charger for a delivery fleet, apply for load enhancement before the new equipment goes in.

Questions

Sources

Rules and figures in this article were checked against these sources on 30 Sep 2026. Schemes and tariffs change, so confirm with the official office before you act.

• KERC Combined Tariff Order 2025 for all ESCOMs (27 Mar 2025), via OpenCity data portal
• ThePrint: KERC increases electricity tariffs for commercial, industrial consumers (Mar 2026)
• ETV Bharat: KERC hikes commercial, industrial power tariffs (Mar 2026)
• Deccan Herald: Tribunal admits FKCCI plea against KERC tariff revision
• Section 126(5), Electricity Act 2003 (Indian Kanoon)
• Section 126, Electricity Act 2003 (Lawgist)
• Citizen Matters: How to apply for a BESCOM connection
• BESCOM Conditions of Supply with I and II amendments (2013)
• Deccan Herald: Karnataka High Court stays mandatory installation of smart meters
• ETV Bharat: Karnataka HC on smart meter price and mandatory installation (Apr 2025)

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