BJP slams DERC, alleges nexus with govt

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) of acting at the behest of the government. HT reports.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) of acting at the behest of the government.

HT Image

Addressing the media on Saturday, BJP president Vijay Goel, party member Anil Sood and Rajiv Kakaria of Chetna - a social organisation - claimed that the licence of power distribution companies should have been cancelled for flouting norms but DERC had not even bothered serving any notices to them so far.

“DERC has acknowledged that, in accordance to the terms of agreement, three companies had rights to distribute power in the entire city. This was done to ensure that there was competition between the companies and power could be supplied at the best available prices.

"However, the commission has also stated that since all the three companies were purchasing power from one source and at one rate hence there was no need for competition as they supplied power at one rate only. This statement of DERC is in violation of the Central Electricity Act, 2003, National Tariff Policy, 2005 and National Electricity Policy, 2005,” Goel said.

He further added that the module of competition had been conceived to give the consumers the best service at the cheapest rates. In fact, companies functioning under the competition module had done quite well.

“DERC claimed that this module failed in Mumbai. But the truth of the matter is that many consumers like the module and often shift to other power companies to get services at cheaper prices,” Goel said.