Amid speculations of hike in electricity bills of the consumers in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) zone, the NDMC Chairman Keshav Chandra on Friday clarified that people in the area need not panic as the council will not allow any increase in the electricity bills of consumers, irrespective of the orders of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).

In a statement, Chandra said, “The NDMC has decided to appeal against the DERC’s order proposing to increase the Power Purchase Cost Agreement (PPCA) in electricity bills for the quarter January to March 2025. This hike was to increase the electricity bills of consumers in the NDMC area.”

He assured the consumers that NDMC will not allow any increase in the electricity bills of consumers, irrespective of the order of DERC. Currently, there are around 55,000 electricity connections in the NDMC area, of which more than 60 per cent are domestic consumers.

The Chairman informed that verification of accounts has not been done in the absence of tariff order. “In this context, the PPAC order of DERC, which proposes an increase in the cost of electricity, has caused unnecessary panic among consumers. NDMC does not accept this current PPAC and will seek a reduction in the proposed rates from DERC,” he said.

He clarified that PPAC is a surcharge imposed by the DERC to meet the fluctuations in the cost of electricity purchased by distribution companies. Speaking to the media, Vice-Chairman Kuljit Singh Chahal informed that DERC has allowed the increase of PPCA from 38.75 per cent to 54.52 per cent, which would lead to an increase in electricity bills in the quarter of January to March 2025.

He assured the consumers that under the leadership of the Prime Minister and Home Minister, NDMC is working for their welfare and no consumer will be charged extra.

He also informed that in 2017, the Government of India had issued guidelines to NDMC to move towards green power and promote renewable energy. Despite this, NDMC had requested the Delhi Government to de-locate two expensive plants—Bawana and Pragati—but no action was taken.

“The cost of electricity from Bawana is Rs 18 per unit, which is the most expensive in Delhi, while NDMC provides electricity to consumers at between Rs 3 to Rs 8 per unit. NDMC has to bear an additional burden of about Rs 150 crore every year from the Delhi Government,” he said, adding that despite this burden on the Council, we will not pass on these additional costs to his consumers.

He also informed that under the PM Surya Ghar Free Electricity Scheme led by the Prime Minister, a subsidy of up to Rs 30,000 is given for installing 1 kW Rooftop Solar System. “NDMC is considering increasing this subsidy and is working on a plan to provide free solar energy to consumers,” he said.

Chahal said that with the work being done towards making NDMC self-reliant in the field of solar energy, we are moving towards ‘ZERO metering’ in NDMC.

Slamming the Delhi government and its people for trying to harass the citizens of Delhi, he confirmed that NDMC has already filed a petition with DERC stating that they will not follow the DERC order and will not impose any surcharge on consumers.

"We will not let Arvind Kejriwal's anti-people plans succeed and will not burden the public with any kind of additional charge," he claimed.