The Delhi High Court will hear arguments on 20 October in a case filed by an RTI activist against the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC).
Anil Sood has accused the DERC of creating “artificial losses” worth Rs 38,000 crore, which he claims the latter is planning to pass on to consumers.
Sources in the DERC denied the charges categorically and said that the Commission had responded to Sood’s charges on a “point-by-point” basis when the matter was being heard by the Central Information Commission. Sources declined to make further remarks as the matter is “sub-judice”.
According to Sood, the DERC has not physically verified the assets of the distribution companies (discoms), thereby making its claims of losses untenable. Sood added that audits had not been carried out properly and the DERC and an independent agency responsible for the same had not been on the same page about how it was to be conducted. According to documents with Sood, reviewed by The Sunday Guardian, the independent agency had refused to submit a detailed report of the prudence check and technical validation session in 2012 after which the DERC demanded that the agency do so as per the agreement.
The independent agency had taken the plea, as per the documents, that the task of preparing the report regarding the prudence check was not part of the “deliverables.” It further added that such report had not been prepared in previous assignments. The DERC responded by calling the contention made by the independent agency “unthinkable” and demanded that it submit a report.
Sood said that in its order of 24 September, the DERC admitted that it was still conducting the physical verification of assets. “The Commission has also undertaken work of physical verification of assets and billing audit, which may lead to further reduction in the revenue gap during the subsequent years,” reads the order of the DERC.
According to Sood, the DERC had contradicted itself by releasing the figure for “losses” when the physical verification of the assets had not been completed.