Delhi LG orders probe into irregularities in power subsidy, seeks report from Chief Secretary

Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in the electricity subsidy being given to consumers through DBT.

The LG Secretariat L-G has asked the Chief Secretary to inquire into and submit a report within seven days as to why the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) order of February 19, 2018 directing the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) to pay electricity subsidy to consumers through DBT, has not been implemented till now.

The order had inter alia stated that the GNCTD may consider to transfer power subsidy to the beneficiaries as is already being done by the government in the matter of distribution of LPG subsidy. This, the DERC had said, will obviate the need for conducting any Audit.

The L-G has reportedly received a complaint raising several issues of impropriety and discrepancies in the power subsidy matter, said a source.

The source claimed that the complainant have alleged that a massive scam was affected by Jasmine Shah (Spokesperson, AAP & Vice Chairman, Dialogue & Development Commission of Delhi (DDC) and Naveen Gupta (son of AAP MP, ND Gupta), the Kejriwal government appointed Directors on the Board of Directors of private DISCOMS, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. (BRPL) & BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. (BYPL), owned by the Anil Ambani Group.

The Delhi government has 49 per cent shares in these private DISCOMS. The complainants comprising eminent lawyers, jurists and law professionals, have alleged that "instead of recovering its outstanding dues of Rs 21,250 crore on account of default in payment for power purchased by defaulting vendor DISCOMS (BRPL and BYPL) from State owned Power Generation Companies, and debarring it from further business in Delhi, the AAP got into a cozy deal with the BRPL and BYPL by way of agreeing to let them settle their outstanding dues against future payments to be made to them by the government in shape of subsidy reimbursements for supposedly free power that they provided to the consumers. This amounted to a sum of Rs 11,550 crore being settled as reimbursements".

"Unduly allowed the DISCOMS to charge Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) at a rate of 18 per cent from the people and paying the same at a rate of 12 per cent only to the Delhi Government owned Power Generation Companies, in the process providing them a windfall gain of Rs 8,500 crore at the cost of the state exchequer", the complainants have alleged as per the source.

It has also violated its own Cabinet decision of 2015-16, that entailed that Audit of BRPL and BYPL be conducted every year for electricity subsidy paid to them by the Delhi Government. It allowed for no audit to be done even as payments amounting to Rs 11,500 crore kept getting settled in favour of BRPL and BYPL; and blocked the implementation of DBT in the disbursal of power subsidy to the people in contravention of DERC order of 2018, with the sole aim of concealing the actual number of subsidy beneficiaries and thereby paying unverified amounts to these DISCOMS, paving the way for kick-backs and commissions", it said.

As per the complainants, earlier the senior government officers of the Delhi Government were nominated as Directors on Board of Directors of BRPL and BYPL to represent the Delhi Government - as Delhi government owns 49 per cent shares of BYPL and BRPL - so that interests of the government are protected.

However, AAP appointed active political functionaries of its party, viz. Jasmine Shah, Naveen ND Gupta as nominee Directors on Board of Directors of BRPL and BYPL, so that this exercise of swindling public money in collusion with these two Anil Ambani owned companies could be carried out without any intervention of Govt. Servants, the complainants have alleged.

The complainants have demanded that a thorough inquiry be done and action against the government nominated Directors be taken, said the source.