New Delhi: The BJP has alleged that ‘regulatory assets’ or unrecoverable amounts of over Rs 18,000 crore are pending in the balance sheets of three power discoms in Delhi because of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s free electricity scheme.
At a press conference held at the BJP headquarters Thursday, party spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said that the regulatory assets will additionally have an interest rate of minimum 8 percent, amounting to close to Rs 1,500 crore which will be recovered from the people of Delhi annually in the future.
Regulatory assets, prohibited under the law except under ‘exceptional circumstances’, are created when state regulators defer costs incurred by them to be recovered through future hikes in electricity tariffs. Last year, the Ministry of Power had pulled up State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) for creating such assets. SERCs periodically recognise that there are certain costs run up by discoms that may not be made up for by the tariffs charged to consumers. Accumulation of regulatory assets thus can put the burden of recovering such amounts from the public on future governments.
“The three power discoms in Delhi supply electricity at a pre-fixed rate. If the cost is more than the rate, the difference in the amount is added to the balance sheet of the discoms. If the government pays that amount to the companies, it can be recovered through subsidies. But the government has not paid the amount to these companies,” BJP’s Gopal Krishna Agarwal alleged Thursday.
According to the BJP, the 2021-22 balance sheet of discom BSES Rajdhani has Rs 8,191 crore in regulatory assets, BSES Yamuna’s amount is Rs 5,362 crore and Tata Power’s is Rs 5,021 crore. Agarwal said the BJP does not have access to the balance sheets for 2022-23.
“The total regulatory assets amount to Rs 18,578 crore with a minimum interest rate of 8 percent, which will amount to Rs 1,500 crore. There is also an amount of Rs 3,500 crore which is under recovery. In total, over Rs 5,000 crore additional burden will be borne by the people of Delhi in future,” Agarwal said, adding that the Delhi government’s statement that power discoms are giving free power is “utterly dishonest”.
“They are creating regulatory assets and these assets are ballooning over the years. This should be audited through CAG, but Delhi government is not agreeing for the audit,” he further alleged.
Row over discoms audit
In April, the Delhi government had directed the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to conduct a special audit, through CAG-empanelled auditors, of discoms over power subsidies from 2016 to 2022 to identify any irregularities and ensure transparency.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena approved the audit. A week before that, he had said that an audit by CAG-empanelled auditors cannot and should not be considered as a substitute to a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) audit.
The Delhi BJP denounced the audit and demanded a CAG investigation. Opposition leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri called for the CAG to investigate the matter. “Delhi government’s decision of audit through empanelled auditors is a big hoax and the people of Delhi and BJP will not accept it,” he said at the time.
Last year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a change in the free electricity scheme, saying the power subsidy will be provided to only those who opt for it. According to the Delhi government, over 48 lakh people have applied to the discoms for subsidies, out of the 58 lakh domestic consumers.
In June, the city’s power purchase adjustment cost (PPAC) was increased by 8 percent. The AAP government had alleged that the tariff was increasing because of the “mismanagement of the central government”. Power Minister Atishi had said that despite no coal shortage, power generating companies were being forced to buy coal at a higher rate.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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