Public hearing on power tariff from next month

After a long delay, the much-awaited public hearing for discussing the power tariff in the city will begin from next month. Neelam Pandey reports.

After a long delay, the much-awaited public hearing for discussing the power tariff in the city will begin from next month.

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According to Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) officials, the process of public hearing was delayed after BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, which had earlier proposed a 1.6% tariff hike for this year, had submitted a 'revised petition' to the power regulator, seeking a fixed increase of 6.5%.

The three power distribution companies - BRPL, BSES Yamuna Power Limited and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) - had submitted their petitions in December last year for an increase in power tariff to be applicable from this year.

The last date for formally submitting the petitions was December 2012. However, the BRPL had earlier this month submitted a new petition, delaying the entire process of tariff determination.

"We had received BRPL's revised petition at a time when we had already sought objections and suggestions from the public. We had then again come up with a public notice asking people to submit their suggestions on BRPL's revised petition. The process is now over and we will start the public hearing next month," said PD Sudhakar, chairman, DERC.

According to officials, the commission had already received 400 responses from the public. According to sources, the government too has been keeping a close eye on the new tariff structure since the elections are round the corner.