In a jolt to the Delhi government which had taken sympathetic view on the claims of the private power distribution companies (discoms), the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has shot off letters to all the three discoms rejecting point-by-point the demand for tariff hike. The power regulator has also written a letter to the Delhi government strongly objecting to power tariff hike.
In a letter to the NDPL, the DERC quoting audited accounts for 2009-10 stated that the discom made a profit of Rs 468.82 crores in the last year, which is an increase of 176 per cent from Rs 169.60 crores in 2004-05. The DERC also charged NDPL of giving “figures without any basis” in its representation to the Delhi government in a meeting on May 5.
On the claims of the discom that the lenders were not giving loans, the DERC said that credit rating agency ICRA has given NDPL high credit quality rating for its healthy financial position.
In its letter to the BSES Yamuna, the DERC stated that the company made “highest cash profit of Rs 157.33 crores in 2009-10, which increased from Rs 16.89 crores in 2007-08”. It also charged the BYPL of misrepresenting facts and not giving proper figures in its representation to Delhi government seeking hike in tariff.
“Despite good financial position of your company and fairly good credit rating, you have chosen to say, in your representation, that your net worth is negative,” the DERC letter said.
A similar letter has been also been sent to the BSES-Rajdhani. Delhi government had issued a directive to the DERC to hold the announcement of the new power tariff a day before it was to go public with reportedly a 20 per cent cut.