DERC - Petition for MANDATORY payment of Power Bills in PSU Banks only, to ensure Transparency and Accountability

The Secretary,
Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission,
C-Block, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi.

Sub: Petition for MANDATORY payment of Power Bills in PSU Banks only, to ensure Transparency and Accountability
Madam,

I write to you in the interest of Delhi consumers who are suffering due to exorbitant Power Bills despite curtailing their consumption by prudent usage, paying a premium on Five Star Rated Appliances and switching to expensive CFL / LED Bulbs.

The High Court disappointed Delhi consumers by staying the CAG Audit on Technical Grounds, despite the fact that CAG had found discrepancy of around Rs. 8,000/- Crorers. Activists and RWAs including me, have been seeking Distribution Transformer wise details of Units of Electricity Supplied and Units Billed by DISCOMS, with no response.

It has been our contention that DISCOMS have not been filing complete details of Billing to DERC or Delhi Government and has beenconcealing unearned Profits due to Fast Meters on account of recording Unutilised Current in Common Neutral due to RESIDUAL BACK FLOW.

Presently DISCOMS are solely responsible for collecting Power Bills in their offices, both in Cash and Cheques. THIS PRACTICE NEEDS TO BE STOPPED FORTHWITH and the task of Bill Collection should be ENTRUSTED TO DESIGNATED PSU BANKS. This change will result in the following benefits:-

1.    Right now we have to rely on DISCOMS data only and the stake holders have no way of verifying the actual Collections made and Data supplied.

2.    The issue of Fast Meters will also be addressed as we can then verify Units Supplied and Units billed after factoring in the Area Wise losses.

3.    The additional benefit will be that Cash Deposits when deposited in PSU Banks will earn INTEREST on Daily Basis as Majority of payments under Rs. 4000/- can be made in cash. The interest earned will help lower Tariffs.

4.    The shares of Transco, Gencos, Delhi Government and Energy Tax collected can be automatically disbursed to the respective entities. They will no longer be at the mercy of DISCOMS who have been defaulting in disbursement despite collecting the payments for energy consumed.

5.    This will lead to greater Transparency and Accountability and will go a long way in allaying the Trust Deficit between the Stakeholders and DISCOMS.

These are preliminary submissions, I request you to give an opportunity to elaborate in person along with fellow activists so that our concerns are suitably addressed.

Warm Regards,

s/d

Rajiv Kakria