Power ministry seeks enquiry against DERC member for ‘proved misbehaviour’

The Electricity Act, 2003 provides that the power tariff should be cost-reflective and it mandates that the appropriate commission while determining the tariff will be guided by the objective that the tariff progressively reflects the cost of supply of electricity and also reduces cross-subsidies within a specified period, it said.

The Delhi government has come under fire over “freebies”  from the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions.

“Contrary to the above statutory provisions, the DERC has allowed the regulatory assets to increase to Rs 8,955 crore according to the tariff order issued for FY 2021-22 instead of liquidating the same. Till date, the commission has not come up with a trajectory to liquidate these regulatory assets,” said the ministry letter.

The DERC source claimed that the regulatory assets of power discoms in Delhi have reduced from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore in recent years. This shows that the charge against the commission was “unreasonable”, A DERC source said. Since the retirement of DERC chairperson Justice (retd) Shabihul Hasnain and a member before him, the commission has only one member A K Ambasht. No reaction was immediately available from Ambasht, member (technical), on the development.