Power subsidy to continue irrespective of meter load: Delhi govt

Power minister Atishi said consumers who received subsidies under the default provision that ended on October 2022, have opted in for the subsidy in the current fiscal, and the scheme will restart in April.

The Delhi government on Monday said it will continue to subsidise the power bills of domestic consumers who use up to 400 units, irrespective of their sanctioned load on electricity metres.

According to the state’s power subsidy scheme, domestic consumers who use up to 200 units of electricity get their bills waived off, while those who consume 201-400 units get a 50% discount. (HT photo)

According to the state’s power subsidy scheme, domestic consumers who use up to 200 units of electricity get their bills waived off, while those who consume 201-400 units get a 50% discount. Consumers have to opt in for the scheme once a year.

Power minister Atishi in an informal briefing on Monday said around 95% of the 4.7 million consumers who received subsidies under the default provision that ended on October 2022, have opted in for the subsidy in the current fiscal, and the scheme will restart in April.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s statement came days after lieutenant governor VK Saxena asked chief secretary Naresh Kumar to direct the power department to place the statutory advice of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) – which recommended a subsidy only to consumers using only 1-3 KW or 1-5 KW of power – before the council of ministers and decide over the same within 15 days.

The LG office on Monday clarified that Saxena did not suggest withdrawing subsidies. “The LG in none of his communications has even suggested, leave apart asking the AAP government to withdraw subsidies. He has repeatedly asked for subsidy to be given to the poor who are deserving, rather than to private power companies,” an official in the LG office said.

The DERC report had said that capping the power subsidy on the basis of a 1-3KW or 1-5KW load factor would have covered nearly 95% of the total consumers availing subsidies, and could have saved the exchequer ₹316 crore or ₹200 crore per year, respectively. Atishi said the LG was “wrongly briefed” on the matter. “DERC withdrew its statutory advice on restricting power subsidy on January 6 because the advice was legally wrong,” she said.

The minister also shared a note from the DERC chairperson dated January 6 to the then power minister Manish Sisodia, which said: “...We find that the statutory advice given under section 86(2) to the government, appears not to be as per law and without jurisdiction. Such an order cannot stand the scrutiny of law and hereby recalled.”

HT has seen the DERC note.

The minister also accused the LG of writing to the chief secretary with “mala fide intentions”.

“It seems that the LG has mala fide intent. It was another attempt to stall Delhi government’s work by the LG, who anyhow wants opportunities to stall the work of the elected government,” she said, adding that the LG’s directions are yet to reach her office.

Responding to the allegations, the official from the LG office said, “Having been caught red-handed in the act of benefiting and providing undue financial favours to private discoms in the name of poor people, the AAP government and its functionaries are trying to make baseless, false and misleading statements... they are trying to some how redeem themselves in the eyes of the people.”

The official added, “It will be better if the government stops misleading people behind the fig leaf provided by DERC orders, which were withdrawn after the scam came to light.”

Responding to allegations by LG office, the Delhi government said that the LG should put his claims on record so that defamation charges may be invoked against him.