Delhi discoms have approached the court against Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission over its ‘Business Plan Regulations’, an official said on Sunday
The discoms challenged the regulations issued by the power regulator in the High Court earlier this month, they said.
The matter is sub judice so nothing can be said officially said a top DERC official seeking anonymity.
The Business Plan Regulations when issued had invited the discoms to give their objections and suggestions but it is “unfortunate” that instead of approaching the DERC they took the matter to the court, he said.
“The discoms are pushing self interest as public interest. In fact, they are opposing the business plan regulations because it plugged all the loopholes they used to approach courts and get the annual tariff influenced to their benefit,” he added.
“Many aspects of the Business Plans Regulations are in contravention of law and it has been challenged on various grounds, including violation of the principles of the Electricity Act, 2003, for being released without public hearing and that it is against DERC’s own tariff policy,” said a discom official who does not wish to be identified.
The BSES discoms Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Limited (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and Tata Power DDL declined to comment officially on the matter. Business Plan Regulations are the DERC-framed rules for determining retail tariffs in Delhi.
The Delhi power utilities submitted their Aggregate Revenue Requirements (ARRs), considered as the annual budget for the financial year 2023-24, to the DERC, as mandated, on May 22, said the official.
DERC accepted the ARR on May 26, he said.
After a plea was filed by the discoms, the Supreme Court has directed the Delhi High Court to hear the case in the upcoming week. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, May 29, 2023, he added.
One of the primary issues raised by the Delhi discoms is the decrease in return on equity (ROE) from 16 per cent to 14 per cent by the Business Plan Regulations.
“The consequence of Business Plan Regulations are profound, with an expected adverse impact of around Rs 850 crore on the three discoms,” said the discom official.
These regulations have been challenged on several grounds, including the violation of Section 61(a) of the Electricity Act. This Act requires the DERC to be guided by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) principles and methodologies for tariff determination.
The Delhi discoms have also argued that the new regulations are against the “public interest” as they were drafted without a public hearing and could impact consumers for the next three years, the official added.
Source: PTI
