Row over discoms CAG audit; SC to hear plea of NGO on Jan 18

New Delhi, Jan 8 (PTI) The Supreme Court would hear on January 18 a plea of an NGO filed against a High Court verdict quashing Delhi governments 2014 order asking the CAG to audit the accounts of three private power distribution companies.

The court deferred the crucial hearing after the counsel appearing for Delhi government and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said that their appeals against the High Court verdict are in the process of being filed and hence, it would be proper to hear all of them together.

"We will hear all of them on January 18," a bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said.

The court was hearing the appeal of NGO, United RWAs Joint Action (URJA), filed through lawyer Prashant Bhushan, against dismissal of his PIL by the High Court. It had sought an audit of the discoms accounts by the CAG.

The High Court had termed as "populist" the decision of the AAP government to have CAG audit of discoms -- Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL), BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd, which supply power in Delhi.

There can be no other audit by CAG at the instance of the state government when regulatory body, Delhi Electric Regulatory Commission, is already there to audit the accounts of discoms, it had said.

"Such populist measures without considering the ultimate advantage thereof, not only end up being contrary to public interest but also put unnecessary burden on the courts," the High Court had said.

with thanks : IndiaToday : LINK : for detailed report.

Odd Even : What you have to say ?

Powering banks to collect electricity bills in Delhi

Delhi Govt is likely to issue a Notification via DERC, instructing, that all the cash payments of Electricity Bills, will now onwards be made at the Banks only and not at the Discom's counters. Moreover, the limit will be enhanced to Rs 20,000 from the present Rs 4,000.

It's indeed a welcome step as it will make a check on the total collections of Delhi Discoms. The only problem is that the Banks in Delhi are already overcrowded and the Discom consumers will make the things a bit more difficult. Hence the Banks must make suitable arrangements to avoid any chaos and any inconvenience to their own customers. 

It will be better, if the Banks could open their extension collection counters at various DISCOM offices to avoid any inconvenience.

B S Vohra

East Delhi RWAs Joint Front

www.RWABhagidari.com 

Powering banks to collect electricity bills

DERC to permit consumers to make cash payment through banks

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) is all set to approve the proposal of the Aam Aadmi Party government which would make it mandatory for consumers to make cash payments for electricity bills only through banks.

Besides, the power regulator is also planning to increase the limit of cash payment from Rs. 4000 to Rs. 20,000.

Sources in the commission confirmed to The Hindu that the power regulator is going to issue an order in this regard within a week’s time.

“The scheme would not only include public sector banks but others also. An order would be rolled out soon,” said an official. The Delhi government had submitted its proposal to change the mode of cash payment for electricity bills in December last year after which the DERC has had at least two meetings with the stakeholders in this regard.

Welcoming the news, Delhi’s Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) said it was a long pending demand that has “finally been heard”. Rajiv Kakria of GK-I RWA, who had first floated the proposal said, “presently discoms are solely responsible for collecting power bills in their office, both in cash and cheques. This needs to be stopped immediately as there is no transparency in the accounts of these power utilities.” The order will remove any loophole that the discoms might use for concealing their profits, he added.

The government drafted the proposal after a group of RWAs met Chief Minister Arvid Kejriwal and urged him to take up the matter. The move assumes significance as only recently the Delhi High Court had stayed the CAG audit on discoms stating that only the DERC was authorised to conduct audits of the private distribution companies.

The power regulator is also planning to increase the limit of cash payment from Rs. 4000 to Rs. 20,000.

with thanks : The Hindu : LINK

Discoms will have to buy electricity generated from waste : HT

In a move aimed at making our cities clean by way of better trash management, the government is set to make it mandatory for power distribution companies to buy 100% of electricity generated from municipal solid waste.

The power ministry has finalised a cabinet note to amend the electricity act 2003 and incorporate this provision among others. “The proposal will come up for cabinet approval shortly,” said a government official. The act as of now provides for purchase of electricity from only two renewable energy sources — wind and solar.

Currently, only 23% of municipal waste — which includes household and commercial garbage and construction debris — produced in a day is processed or properly disposed of. India generates 24 MW (mega watts) of power from such waste at four waste-to-energy plants with a capacity of 41 MW. But it has the potential to generate 500 MW.

Waste-to-energy is currently economically unviable due to high generation costs, which discourage private players from setting up such plants.

But the government hopes the amended law will change all this. “The Centre has already committed a 20% grant for solid waste management projects under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The move mandating discoms to purchase 100% power will incentivise more developers to set up such plants,” said a government official.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has recently fixed a tariff of Rs 7.04 per unit for power derived from municipal solid waste. “Municipal corporations across the country will provide the land to set up such plants and the waste to run them,” another official said.

With thanks : Hindustan Tmes : LINK : for detailed report.

#Pathankot #PathankotAttack

पठानकोट के शहीदों को हमारा सलाम. 

लेकिन इन के परिवारों को 5 लाख का मुआवज़ा देकर, बादल सरकार आख़िर क्या जताना चाहती है ?

Happy New Year 2016

Wishing you a Green & Non Polluted Delhi : B S Vohra

#OddEveninDelhi

It will create problems for the residents for 15 days, but still, we must give it a thought, for the sake of our Children. Let's see if this exercise has any impact on the pollution in Delhi. 

Trifurcation of MCD led to its downfall claim residents

Sneha Agrawal

New Delhi, December 29, 2015 

The trifurcation, which was aimed at improving the efficiency of the civic body at micro level, today is drawing flak from the residents due to the failure in delivering results. The residents say that move was made to reap political advantage rather than administrative benefits.

Dividing the erstwhile corporation into three led to further downfall in the functioning of the civic body, say the residents' welfare associations. The trifurcation, which was aimed at improving the efficiency of the civic body at micro level, today is drawing flak from the residents due to the failure in delivering results. The residents say that move was made to reap political advantage rather than administrative benefits.

"The trifurcation complicated the functioning of the MCD. While there has been no change in the quality of the service on the ground, the administration has gone from bad to worse. The move had political benefits but from the view point of administration, it has failed miserably. After the staff was doubled up, there has not been any social audit on the fact that whether the decision to trifurcate proved to be constructive or not," said Rajiv Kakria, citizen activist from Greater Kailash- 1.

The RWAs from east Delhi said the idea of a unified MCD was much better than the present one. The cash-strapped east MCD has not been able to look after the civic requirements of the residents. "The trifurcation was politically driven and did not benefit general public. The roads, drains and sanitation are a major challenge in east Delhi. The condition continues to worsen. Whenever we approached councillors with our problem, we were sent back saying there were no funds to meet civic needs. Unification would narrow down problems," said BS Vohra from East Delhi RWAs Joint Front Federation.

Some others feel the decision to trifurcate the erstwhile civic agency has not met expectations.

"Trifurcation was done to make the MCD authorities approachable for the residents. There were speculations that the authorities were not channeling funds equally and focus was being laid on few areas. But today, the civic agencies are badly failing in their task. The salaries are not being disbursed in time, no concrete development work has taken place and there has been an increase in the expenditure on the establishment. However, comparing the two, a single MCD proved be a better option," said Saurabh Gandhi, general secretary of United Residents of Delhi.

with thanks : Mail Today : LINK : for detailed news report.

Odd Even : Nav Bharat Times