The AAP Government has taken its battle against the power distribution companies to a higher level with Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain warning the discoms of strict penalties in case of unscheduled power cuts in any part of the national Capital.
This is the first occasion that the Government has decided to approach Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to impose penalties on the private companies for their failure to restore unscheduled power cuts within one hour. It is noted that the Delhi Government cannot impose penalty on power discoms by its own, as it will have to ask the DERC to penalise discoms for unscheduled power cuts.
In other words, power discoms in the Capital will have to pay a penalty on a daily basis for power cuts, and a mechanism to introduce a system to impose the fine is being developed. For the first two hours, the discoms will be fined Rs50 per consumer and for every subsequent hour it will go up to Rs100. Discoms have been asked to upload the schedule of power cuts, if any, on their website.
In a letter to DERC chairman PD Sudhakar, deputy secretary (power) Alka Sharma said if any unscheduled power cut is not restored within an hour, a penalty of Rs50 per hour per consumer would be charged from the companies for a period of first two hours. The penality amount would double after two hours and the same money would be credited to the affected consumers. According to Jain, DERC will put the schedule of power cuts in different parts of Delhi in advance for the next 15 days on its website and will update it daily.
The letter said: “In case of disruption of power to an individual consumer, the supply shall be restored within three hours of complaint. Failure to do so shall result in a penalty of Rs100 per hour. All payments of compensation shall be made suo-moto by the discoms by way of adjustment against current or future bills for supply of electricity within 90 days.”
Not only this. The letter said that if the compensation was not paid suo-moto by discoms and if any affected consumer approached the DERC for their compensation claim, the penalty amount in such cases would be Rs 5,000 or five times the compensation payable on suo-moto basis, whichever is higher.
A highly placed source said that the AAP government was going to keep close tabs on the power supply through its network of volunteers all across the city. “If private companies were unable to supply electricity within the stipulated time frame, the volunteers would immediately inform the same to the power department for timely intervention and action.”
The move comes against the backdrop of the AAP Government protesting against DERC clearing a fuel surcharge that will lead to an increase in power bills for the residents of Delhi.
The AAP Government has had direct confrontation with the power companies as they had opposed the administration move to go for an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has time and again alleged that the power companies were manipulating inflated bills and had demanded a thorough audit into their account. He had even met the CAG and requested him to carry out the audit of these companies at the earliest.