Delhi: Finances hit by Covid, discom unhappy with no hike in power tariff

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairman Justice (retd) S S Chauhan said the discoms should guard against passing “off hand remarks” and wait for the tariff order to come out officially.

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DERC cited Covid-19 to not hike tariffs this year

Tata Power, which has over 18 lakh consumers in Delhi, Saturday questioned the DERC’s decision to keep power tariff unchanged, saying “financial challenges” being faced by the discoms has put uninterrupted supply of power in the city at “grave risk”. BSES, which has a consumer base of over 43 lakh, did not comment.

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairman Justice (retd) S S Chauhan said the discoms should guard against passing “off hand remarks” and wait for the tariff order to come out officially. “Tata is in a good condition, their credit ratings are very good, and they have been the best performers,” he said.

Citing Covid-19, DERC announced its decision to stick to the prevailing power tariffs for at least one more year.

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“This tariff order… is in the context of the pandemic which is a very challenging time for customers and discoms. The sharp drop in sales to commercial and industrial customers has deeply impacted discoms’ finances in the last five months. Considering the pandemic, DERC has maintained tariff at the existing level. However, for discoms, this tariff order will substantially increase financial challenges and the ability to ensure 24×7 power supply,” TPDDL said in a statement.

In the run up to the tariff fixing exercise, BSES and TPDDL had said they will face a revenue gap of Rs 6,124 crore in 2020-21 if tariffs are not hiked. They put the total revenue requirement at Rs 23,139 crore to meet operational expenses for 2020-21.

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