PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 8/10/12 FOR CONSUMER AND TARIFF HIKE

The Secretary

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission
Viniyamak Bhavan, C-Block
Shivalik, Malviya Nagar
New Delhi -110017

Sub: PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 8/10/12 FOR CONSUMER AND TARIFF HIKE

Dear Sir,

We would like to submit that since the Consumer is never considered as sovereign as in the rest of the Planet inhabited by Mankind and the Honourable DERC uses all the tools at its disposal to extort money under one garb or the other and thus under these circumstances there is no JUSTICE to us .

A) Consumer Grievousness and Redressal Regulations 2011:

We would like to humbly suggest the Consumer if not attended under the following is nothing but a MIRAGE thrown to the Public to complete your official requirements of the Public Notice so that you could press with your hidden agenda for the coterie who has to be benefited from this loot from the 1.5crore +( As per the CM media presentation some time back) resident of Union Of Delhi.

It is imperative that the Honourable Commission incorporate the following in their Policy first

Our Vision

Consumer Sovereignty.

Our Mission

To be an effective national coalition of consumer protection groups so as to provide thrust to common issues affecting consumers.

Aims & Objectives

• Influencing policies, legislation and administrative framework towards promoting consumer interests.
• Empowering consumer protection groups to work towards strengthening the civil society in the democratic system of the country.

One of the major concerns of CCC has been Good Governance. CCC had accordingly launched a National Campaign on Citizens’ Charter in July 1996 for implementing the principles of Transparency, Accountability, Standards of Service, Availability of Information and an Effective Grievance Redressal System in Public Service and has been continuing its pioneering work in this direction. In the process, CCC has been involved both in the drawing up of appropriate Citizens’ Charters for various organizations, as also in the evaluation of their implementation in the POWER SECTOR

Based on its own experience of over a decade of DERC and the experi­ence of its Member Organisa­tions, DERC should be strongly of the view that significant, sustainable and measurable achievement of its vision, mission and aims and objectives as indicated above, is possible only through an Institutional approach and not by mere funding of individual and sporadic stand alone projects.

DERC HAS TO FORM A CORE CENTRE to be set up with assistance by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, POWER and CITIZENS who have been proactive in POWER, NGO, Federation etc as a CITIZEN CHARTER, LokPal etc Govern­ment of India, to provide a most scientific and effective system of collection and dissemi­nation of consumer related problems and issues and there solutions.

OBJECTIVES

The Objectives of the CORE Centre at DERC

• Development of Infor­mation gathering mechanisms on Consumer related issues.
• Dissemination of information on important Consumer Issues.
• Establishing a Research and Documentation Centre ( high­lighting the work of partner members) on various consu­mer issues.
• Providing Information and Analysis of Consumer related Laws and Judgments.
• To provide Online Support and pursue Consumer Com­plaints.

END USERS

CORE Center (DERC) would, intera­lia, comprise consumers of Goods & Services, Consumer Organiza­tions, Non-Government Orga­nizations (NGOs), Manufactures and Traders, Academicians, Practicing Advo­cates, Law Students, Para-legal working on various projects nationwide and also the various Ministries and Departments as well as Public Sector under­standings, Regula­tory Authorities and standards setting bodies.

The fundamental principle on which the project is founded is based on the premise that Information and Communi­cation Technologies (ICTs) can be effectively used for:

• Generating Awareness.
• Development of Consumer Rights.
• Focusing corporate attention as consumer needs, preferences and problems
• Orienting government func­tioning vis-à-vis Citizens, and
• Seeking enforcement of Citizen Charters focus as also – Policymakers, Legal profes­sionals, Consumer activists, Manu­facturing companies.

Business and Professionals (especially Doctors, Stock­brokers, Insurance and Travel agents) often feel the need to have easy access to consumer law specific information is domains where they practice or operate. This has meant that they are cons­tantly looking for a single resource which, while providing comprehensive access to content, would also provide initiative and dynamic know­ledge to the user, based on the inter-relationships of the content, the type of document and the source of information.

COMPONENTS

The CORE Centre comprises the following components

• Resource Centre
• Online Data­base/Portal
• Newsletter Ser­vice
• Network bet­ween Consu­mer Orga­nizations, Consu­mer Infor­ma­tion Centers, Govern­ment and Non-Government Orga­nizations
• Online Complaint Regis­tra­tion and mediation mecha­nism

The significant aims of the CORE Centre will be as follows-

(i) Creation of a Resource Centre

A comprehensive Resource Centre on Consumer issues would also take care of the research and information needs of parliamentarians, bureaucrats, scholars, academics and students. A comprehensive repository of information on Consumer wel­fare categorized and tagged in XML would bring about the versatility required for a database in a Resource Centre. The Resource Centre would only be accessible by paid subscribers.

(ii) Creation of Online Database/ Portal

CCC proposes the creation of an online database/ portal on consumer issues, as it believes that this would also significantly reduce the learning curve of consumers, activists and profes­sionals working in the field. This is vital since often the paralegals; activists and the staff of partner agencies have neither the time nor the resources to keep themselves updated on the latest developments in their area of work and interest. The access to the online portal would be free.

(iii) Newsletter Service

An external, independent newsletter service ensures that the detailed information in the Resource Centre and the Online Database are circu­lated to stakeholders in a regular, steady and comprehen­sive manner. If the newsletters are dispatched in electronic format, apart from the reduced costs, benefits of personalization is possible and will ensure that only focused and important information is dispatched to the subscribers as per the subscribers requirement.

(iv) Network between Consumer Organizations, Consumer Information Centers, Government & Non-Government Organizations

The CORE Centre would also serve as a network between Consu­mer Organizations, Consu­mer Information Centers, Govern­ment and Non-Govern­ment Organizations to ensure that an information flow is crea­ted for the benefit of the ultimate beneficiaries, i.e. the Consumers. The CORE Centre would make use of the latest ICT tools to also ensure that these organizations can exchange information on various consumer related issues and can keep abreast of any developments taking place in any part of the country.

(v) Online Complaint Registration And Mediation Mechanism

Creation of an Online Complaint Registration and Mediation Mecha­nism will ensure that the consumers can report their grie­vances online and experts in the field can advise them and channelise their complaints to a proper authority, for quick and effective disposal. The CORE Centre would also seek to provide redressal by directly taking up issues with manufacturers, or the providers of goods and service or other Government agencies and organizations

FUNDING

CCC should be funded by various funding by DERC and Ministry of Power and organizations for specific projects, which are generally not an ongoing activity spread over a period of time, or on a continuing basis. This lack of assured funds has resulted in an adhoc and piecemeal approach, which has not enabled CCC to develop an institutional approach and build up an infrastructure that is capable of becoming self-reliant over a period of time. Only such a self-reliant institutional structure can demonstrate sustained growth and measurable outputs.

2) Tariffs Hikes:

We would seek your guidance on the following:

-       Why is no power coming from NTPC Badarpur plant? If coming then at what price

-       Why is no power coming from Dadri Plant? If coming then at what price?

-       Why does Reliance or other Discom have to buy from Jindal Power at Rs.6/unit when power is available on the Power Exchange at Rs.4 approx.

-       If power from Generating sources viz. Badarpur & Dadri are available to us at Rs.2/unit which was anticipated by the Government it can be supplied at Rs.3/unit leaving a margin of 33% for the discoms.

Further the Discoms can charge higher amount for commercial & industrial users and charge lower for the individual users as organizations like DIAL, Hospitals etc. have already benefitted by government largesse.

Sir we are ready but only after CAG Audit till then NO TARIFF HIKE.

Kindly take this as an announcement of SATYAGRAHA for POORNA SWARAJ. We would not pay any BILLS after this unless the CAG is done Sir.

Now the decision is with the H'ble Commission what is best for all stakeholders.

Vande Matram!

Best regards

Anurag Kejriwal

Delhi State President & Member – National Steering Committee