Delhi discoms will have to pay daily penalty over power cuts
Power distribution companies 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, officials said on Wednesday.
Power distribution companies 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, officials said on Wednesday.
For the first two hours, the discoms will be fined Rs 50 and for every subsequent hour it will go up to Rs 100. Discoms have also been asked to upload the schedule of power cuts, if any, on their website.
The Delhi government had sent a proposal to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to penalise discoms which allow load-shedding multiple times in a day.
The move comes in the backdrop of the Aam Aadmi Party government protesting against DERC clearing a fuel surcharge that will lead to an increase in power bills for the residents of Delhi.
Delhi has three discoms for different parts of the city — BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, BSES Yamuna Power Limited and Tata Power.
Power minister Satyendra Jain had earlier told HT that the proposal is likely to be cleared this month with a provision of a hefty fine, which is now imposed on a monthly basis to be converted into a daily one.
"Power discoms need to be more efficient and their careless attitude will not be tolerated as far as power cuts are concerned. We have sent a detailed proposal to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission and we will implement it soon," Jain had said.
"The penalty has to be quite hefty to ensure they deliver. Privatisation in power was done to ensure discoms provide us uninterrupted power supply. But come summer and power cuts become a routine exercise," added Jain.
So far, the discoms can be penalised if the power disruption of an area exceeds 1% of the total energy supplied during a month. According to sources, due to the average calculation even if certain areas face power cuts for a few hours it does not make the total power cut energy more than 1% of the month.
"Due to this penalty is rarely imposed on power discoms for power cuts," a senior Delhi government official had said.