BSES fails to clear debt, customers pay the price

Several localities of the national Capital had to pay for the financial callousness of power distribution company (discom) BSES and faced power cuts on Tuesday.

The BSES owes over Rs700 crore to Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). With the discom failing to clear the due and submit a Letter of Credit on time, the PGCIL stopped supply to the discom from Tuesday midnight. Delhi witnessed a power crunch of around 500 megawatt, necessitating load-shedding. The BSES, however, said that the PGCIL’s move was arbitrary and unjustified.

BSES’ two discoms — BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna —  together owe the sum of about Rs700 crore to PGCIL. “The Letter of Credit is a guarantee letter that the company gets from a bank for taking a loan or picking up a commodity on credit from a buyer. BSES was to furnish the same to the PGCIL but failed and as a result the PGCIL stopped supplies starting Tuesday midnight,” a senior official of the power department said.

The two discoms, which serve South, West, Central, and East Delhi areas, had a peak supply shortfall of 550 megawatt during the day time on Tuesday. This came down to 204 megawatt by the evening. Parts of central, south and west Delhi witnessed power cuts lasting for one to two hours on Tuesday.

While the Transco officials confirmed the disruption in the power supply, the BSES denied it and said BSES Rajdhani, which supplies power to South, West and Central Delhi, had no dues whatsoever.

“Other States fare worse when it comes to clearing their dues with the PGCIL. Of the total amount of Rs321 crore due for the year, BRPL has already paid Rs308 crore to PGCIL. Of the remaining Rs13 crore, Rs5 crore is due as refund from PGCIL, leaving only Rs8 crore dues — which is a surcharge component,” a BSES officer explained. While the BSES explained its accounts for Rajdhani, it failed to do so for BSES Yamuna. BSES Yamuna supplies power to Trans Yamuna Region. The company has also approached the Delhi Government to resolve the issue.

The National Thermal Power Corporation too has written to BSES to pay its dues and warned of snapping supply if it failed to do so. The BSES however said that power cuts in several parts of Delhi were because of local problems. “Whatever load-shedding took place was a result of local problems and had nothing to do with the PGCIL,” said the BSES officer.

with thanks : The Pioneer : LINK