Delhi power distributors fudging facts, says regulator DERC

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission on Monday rejected the demand by Delhi's three power distribution companies (discoms) for an increase in tariffs, saying they were making sufficient profits and not losses as they had alleged.

The DERC has written detailed letters to the discoms, as well as to the government, pointing out discrepancies in their petitions submitted to the chief minister's office on 3 May. The government is believed to be sympathetic to the discoms' demands.

In their petitions, the discoms had argued that they had no money and the banks were refusing to lend them any. On the basis of the petitions, the chief minister intervened on the discoms' behalf and asked the DERC to hold the new tariff order till all issues had been clarified.

Sticking to its original line of argument, the DERC, in its letters sent on Monday, said the discoms' accounts show profits.

The letters to discoms as well as to the government from the DERC came days after a top official in the chief minister's office said genuine demands of the discoms must be addressed by the regulator while finalising the new electricity rates.

Exercising a special power under the Delhi Electricity Act, the state government after receiving a representation from the discoms had on 4 May - a day before the scheduled announcement of the tariff order - directed DERC not to announce it till the regulator got the go-ahead from the government.