Duty to be paid by consumers

(1) There shall be levied and paid to the State Government on the electricity supplied by the Board or any licensee or electricity trader or generating company to a consumer, a duty to be called the electricity duty, at such rate, not exceeding twenty five per cent ad-valorem, as the State Government may from time to time by notification, specify : Provided that the State Government may specify different rates for different categories of consumers. (2) It shall be the duty of the Board or the licensee supplying electricity for consumption to collect the electricity duty from all the consumers in its area of supply in such form and pay the same to the State Government in such manner, as may be prescribed. (3) The State Government shall have the first charge on the electricity duty so collected, and neither the Board nor any licensee shall, without the previous sanction of the State Government, utilize this duty to reimburse itself for any amount, which the State Government may owe to the Board or the licensee. (4) The Board or the licensee, as the case may be, shall also pay the electricity duty on the electricity, supplied for its own consumption.