If BSES can't carry on in Delhi, it's welcome to leave: Power regulator

Power regulator Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) told the Supreme Court on Thursday if Reliance-owned discoms BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) were unable to carry on in the Capital, they were welcome to leave.

Power regulator Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) told the Supreme Court on Thursday if Reliance-owned discoms BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) were unable to carry on in the Capital, they were welcome to leave.

Senior advocate Meet Malhotra, representing DERC, told a bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar that the DERC would find some other company to continue power supply. Malhotra repeatedly compared BRPL and BYPL with Tata’s power utility, saying the latter had never defaulted in paying its dues to power-generating PSUs.

The Reliance-owned companies and DERC have been locked in a legal battle over refund of regulatory assets worth Rs 10,000 crore. They have contended that tariff hikes were too low to recover costs. The court reserved its order on the BSES petition challenging the DERC’s tariff. Malhotra said the BSES could recover the money over the next six years without putting pressure on consumers.

“All tariff orders are fundamentally defective as there has been a lot of variation between what was projected by the DERC and the actual figures at the time of truing up,” Kapil Sibal, senior counsel for the BSES, told the court.