The Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Sunday announced demonstrations across all 14 districts in the national Capital to protest against the imposition of the Power Purchase Agreement Charges (PPAC) and other surcharges by the AAP supported discoms resulting in excessive electricity bills.

During the press conference, Sachdeva released a copy of a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) Retd. Justice Shri Jayant Nath seeking his intervention on the issue of hefty PPAC, Pension Surcharge, Meter Charges and Load Surcharge which he claimed total up exorbitantly to make the electricity bills of consumers too hefty.

The state BJP chief accused the Delhi government and electricity distribution companies of failing to pre-purchase electricity for peak summer and winter demands, forcing residents to bear the burden of these additional costs. “Power Discoms & Delhi Government share a mutual relation to loot the common man and share kickbacks,” he alleged.

Sachdeva said, “People of Delhi are facing dual hardship today, on one hand after a long summer they are facing humid monsoon weather while on the other hand they are forced to pay up hefty electricity bills.” He added that the electricity bills are too hefty not just because of summer consumption, they are hefty due to imposition of exorbitant PPAC and other charges.

“Since April-May there has been an public outcry over the bill amounts and a BJP team studied it in tandem with some power charges experts and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs),” he stated.

He accused the AAP led Delhi government and power discoms of doing no planning in advance.

“Unfortunately the Power Discoms do no planning to meet the excessive summer or humid weather demand or the demand of deep winters. The result of this is that Delhi suddenly faces a power supply crisis around mid April and then the Delhi Government and Power Discoms wake up to buy extra power needed from the power grids or surplus states which obviously come at a premium,” Sachdeva said

Calling for a judicial inquiry, Sachdeva claimed that the PPAC was not part of the approved Business Regulatory Plan for power distribution companies until 2015. He alleged that its imposition is a result of corrupt practices between the Arvind Kejriwal government and power distribution companies.

“ 1.5 per cent PPAC were first levelled in Delhi in 2011 illegally by the then Congress Government. The same were withdrawn in 2014 after an BJP led delegation met the then Power Minister Piyush Goel who made the Power Discoms withdraw it. The charges remained withdrawn between August 2014 to September 2015. In 2015 Arvind Kejriwal government came to power in Delhi and it supported the Power Discoms demand for reimposition of PPAC and  Pension Surcharge,” he alleged.

He said that to protest against these charges, BJP workers will hold demonstrations at power distribution company offices across all districts of Delhi on Monday. He also highlighted that since 2015, the PPAC has increased every summer and winter for the relevant quarter, but it has never been withdrawn after the quarter ends.

Starting at 1.5 per cent, the PPAC has now surged to nearly 45 per cent, which Sachdeva stated has become a huge burden for the lower and middle class people. He alleged, “ PPAC and similar surcharges, such as the pension surcharge, meter rent, and load surcharges, have also been abnormally increased, contributing significantly to the overall electricity bill for middle-class consumers.”

The Delhi BJP has urged the DERC Chairman to investigate the imposition of these increased charges despite power distribution companies already being profitable at the current per-unit rates.