Financial year ending, but power tariff for Delhi yet to be announced

The power tariff order of Delhi for 2022-23 is yet to be announced by the city's electricity regulator DERC, even as the financial year is coming to an end.

Ideally, the exercise should be completed before the next financial year starts, and a delay in announcement in tariff will affect consumers as well as distribution companies in the long run "financially", according to people who track the power sector. The power tariff order is ready but its announcement has been delayed due to various reasons, a senior functionary at Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) said.

"The tariff order is ready. Its announcement was delayed earlier due to court cases and now, the DERC chairman has retired. We are waiting for a fresh appointment to the post so that the tariff order can be announced by the new chairman," he said.

The DERC comprises two members and a chairman. Currently, the post of chairman and that of a member are vacant.

The power ministry had in a letter in 2021 directed all state and central power regulators to issue tariff orders before April 1 of a financial year. It had also said the tariff order should be cost reflective.

Sources, however, said that the DERC, which has only one member (technical), AK Ambasht, can announce the new power tariffs if there is a delay in appointment of chairman.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is minister for power, had last month urged Lt Governor V K Saxena to "urgently" clear the appointment of DERC chairman.

The name of Justice (retired) Rajeev Shrivastava was approved by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the post.

Every year, the DERC announces new power rates for consumers here keeping in consideration various petitions filed by companies involved with generation and distribution of power in the national capital.

Ideally, the exercise should be completed before the commencement of a financial year. But for several years, the announcements of tariff orders have been delayed due to different reasons, said a power sector expert on the condition of anonymity.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government claims that it has not allowed increase in power tariff in the city since it came to power in 2015.

The last tariff hike in Delhi was in 2014. Since 2002, power purchase costs for distribution companies (discoms) here have increased by over 300 per cent as compared to just 91 per cent increase in the retail power tariff in the same period, another expert, who did not wish to be named, said.

"Due to non-cost reflective tariffs, revenue gap (regulatory assets) of Delhi discoms have reached over Rs 57,000 crore," he claimed.

It had announced power tariff for 2021-22 in September 2022, without any increase in rates, saying it did not see any "good reason" to do so.

The power regulator had, however, raised the pension surcharge from five per cent to seven per cent.