1. A tariff locked until 2028
Karnataka's electricity regulator has a dedicated retail category for EV charging — LT-6(c) "EV Charging" — and in its Combined Tariff Order 2025 it fixed the rate at ₹4.50 per unit (plus ₹70/kW/month fixed; HT-supplied sites pay the same energy rate with ₹200/kVA/month) for the entire control period FY2025-26 through FY2027-28, identical across all five state DISCOMs.
The EV category is ₹4.50 — roughly 35–40% cheaper than running the same chargers off a commercial connection, and the rate is locked for three years.
Two honest footnotes. KERC's April 2026 true-up adds 56 paise/unit on BESCOM bills and 15 paise on CESC Mysuru for consumption up to 30 April 2027 (MESCOM, HESCOM and GESCOM customers get small refunds instead). And the concession is real but not permanent: KERC's December 2025 draft cross-subsidy regulations flag the EV category for gradual normalisation from FY2028-29. The window is wide open now; it will narrow.
2. The rule that already applies to you
Since 1 August 2024, KERC's building-charging guidelines require commercial and residential buildings with a sanctioned load of 250 kW or more and built-up area above 5,000 sq m to install at least two EV charging points capable of serving any vehicle segment.
Read that against Bengaluru's building stock and it captures essentially every Grade A tech park, mall, large hotel and high-rise complex in the BESCOM area. If that is your property, the question stopped being whether to install some time ago — it is whether the installation you are obliged to have earns its keep or sits in a corner as a compliance token.
Done properly, the mandated two points become the seed of a metered, access-controlled amenity billed at the ₹4.50 category rate — which is the difference between a cost centre and a service your tenants and guests actually use.
3. The sub-meter route, and who to actually call
The same KERC guidelines created the cheapest compliant route for an existing building: a sub-meter off your current connection, with the EV consumption deducted from the main meter and billed at the EV tariff — with no separate fixed charge on the sub-meter. For an apartment block or hotel that does not want a second service connection, that is usually the answer. Individual LT connections up to 150 kW are also permitted for building charging; past that you move to HT supply.
Karnataka is also unusually concrete about who you deal with. BESCOM's Smart Grid & Electric Vehicle Cell at the K.R. Circle corporate office is the notified single-window agency for charging infrastructure (evcell@bescom.co.in, 080-2220 4344), and BESCOM publishes a ready reckoner for estimating demand charges before you apply. Land offers and public-station proposals go through the state's EV Karnataka portal (evkarnataka.bescom.org), with online application tracking.
Outside Bengaluru the same tariff schedule applies via MESCOM (coastal Karnataka), HESCOM (north-west), GESCOM (Kalyana-Karnataka) and CESC Mysuru — the sub-meter route binds all five.
4. What changed in April 2026
A lot of published guidance on Karnataka is now out of date, so this deserves stating plainly. The Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2026 — notified 10 April 2026 — ended the blanket road-tax exemption electric cars had enjoyed since 2016. Lifetime tax now runs at 5% up to ₹10 lakh, 8% from ₹10–25 lakh and 10% above ₹25 lakh. Electric two-wheelers stay exempt.
What did not change is the infrastructure side. The Clean Mobility Policy 2025–2030 (effective February 2025) still targets 2,600 additional charging stations under PPP and offers a 25% capital subsidy up to ₹10 lakh for the first 500 public fast-charging stations. Note the word public: that subsidy is for stations open to the public, not for a private property installing chargers as a guest or resident amenity — a private installation's benefit is the tariff and the sub-meter route, not the capex grant.
The cars, meanwhile, keep coming regardless: the tax applies to new purchases, and the two-wheeler fleet — Bengaluru bought more electric two-wheelers than any city in India — is untouched.
5. The market on your doorstep
Karnataka registered 24,201 electric cars in FY2025-26 — about 11% of India's total and second only to Maharashtra. Bengaluru was India's number one city for electric two-wheelers in the same year at 98,892 units, more than double second-placed Delhi.
The demand concentrates exactly where the mandate bites. Bengaluru holds India's largest Grade A office market — roughly 209 million sq ft, with the Outer Ring Road stretch alone around 93 million and Whitefield about 44 million — and the apartment towers along ORR, Sarjapur Road, Whitefield and Electronic City house the commuters who bought those two-wheelers and cars. The hotel clusters sit on the same corridors, serving business travel with exactly the overnight dwell that suits 7.4 kW AC charging.
One Bengaluru-specific installation note: the city's mild climate needs no thermal derating, but the documented waterlogging on low-lying ORR and Bellandur stretches argues for plinth-mounted outdoor units and elevated cable entries in basement car parks. It is a survey item, not an afterthought.
6. What hosting is worth here
Karnataka gives you both sides of the ledger in public numbers. Supply on the EV category costs ₹4.50 per unit. BESCOM's own public network retails charging at ₹7.67 per unit at fast-charging stations (₹6.86–7.00 for AC/normal DC) on its EV Mitra app.
That spread is the honest benchmark for what a host can reasonably charge users where charging is a paid service rather than a bundled amenity — and it is why the tariff lock matters: your input cost is fixed to 2028 while the retail side stays yours to set.
Hardware and installation costs are national rather than state-specific; our hotels, offices and housing societies pages carry the market ranges and the property-type detail. A survey prices your building exactly — cable run, board capacity, bay count — and it is free.
7. Questions we get asked
What does EV charging electricity cost in Karnataka?
The dedicated LT-6(c) EV Charging category is ₹4.50 per unit plus ₹70/kW/month fixed (₹200/kVA/month on HT supply), fixed by KERC for FY2025-26 through FY2027-28 across all five DISCOMs. BESCOM bills carry a 56-paise true-up adder until 30 April 2027. LT commercial power is around ₹7.00 per unit, so the EV category is roughly 35-40% cheaper.
Is our building legally required to have EV charging?
If its sanctioned load is 250 kW or more and built-up area exceeds 5,000 sq m — which covers most Grade A offices, malls, large hotels and high-rise complexes — KERC's guidelines in force since 1 August 2024 require at least two charging points capable of serving any vehicle segment.
Do we need a separate electricity connection?
Not necessarily. KERC's building-charging guidelines allow a sub-meter off the existing connection, billed at the EV tariff with no separate fixed charge on the sub-meter — usually the cheapest compliant route for an apartment block or hotel. Dedicated LT connections up to 150 kW are also available, and HT beyond that.
Who do we apply to?
Your DISCOM — BESCOM for Bengaluru, whose Smart Grid & EV Cell at K.R. Circle is the notified single-window agency for charging infrastructure (evcell@bescom.co.in). Public station and land proposals go through the EV Karnataka portal. MESCOM, HESCOM, GESCOM and CESC Mysuru handle their own regions on the same tariff schedule.
Did Karnataka end its EV tax exemption?
For cars, yes — from 10 April 2026 lifetime tax is 5-10% by price band; two-wheelers stay exempt. Charging infrastructure support continues, including the Clean Mobility Policy's 25% capital subsidy for the first 500 public fast-charging stations — public stations, not private amenity installations.
Can we charge users for the electricity?
Yes — charging is de-licensed nationally, and Karnataka's own numbers give the benchmark: supply at ₹4.50 per unit against BESCOM's public-network retail of ₹7.67 at fast chargers. Where charging is a paid service, that spread is the honest starting point for pricing.
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Sources for the figures on this page:
- KERC Combined Tariff Order 2025 — approved tariff schedule FY2025-26 to FY2027-28 (PDF)
- KERC guidelines for EV charging points in buildings, 1 Aug 2024 — Mercom India
- KERC true-up order April 2026 (+56p BESCOM) — Asianet Newsable
- Karnataka Clean Mobility Policy 2025-2030 — Invest Karnataka (PDF)
- Karnataka ends EV road-tax exemption, April 2026 — Angel One
- State-wise electric car registrations FY2025-26 — EVreporter/Vahan