The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission's decision to hold public hearings on petitions submitted by the private power distribution companies (discoms) seeking electricity tariff hike, is highly questionanble and ill-timed.
The Aam Aadmi Party agrees with and fully supports the demand of the various resident welfare associations to postpone any such public discussion on the petitions submitted by the discoms till the ongoing audit of their accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is completed.
The DERC impartiality is under severe doubt given its track record and the current move to publicly discuss the unreasonable demands of the discoms at a time when their dismal performance required a review of whether their licences need to be cancelled.
The AAP categorically states that the DERC indication on the upward electricity tariff revision possibly next month will be met with severe resistance and will not be allowed.
Discoms made lame excuses to avoid the CAG audit over the past decade with active connivance from the then Sheila Dikshit government, till their bluff was called by the AAP's Arvind Kejriwal-led government in January this year and after all their dishonest attempts to stall this audit failed, they are now delaying the process by not cooperating in the process.
The RWAs have rightly pointed out that none of the discoms have so far submitted audited balance sheets for the last financial year and therefore, there was no need to even consider their demand.
The DERC should also immediately overrule the discoms demand of fuel cost adjustment, which cannot be used as an indirect and backdoor channel to hike electricity tariffs in Delhi.
The AAP reminds the DERC that provisions of the Electricity Act 2003 empower it to deal with the discoms strongly and it should not be seen as softpedalling its role of the regulator.
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