DERC law needs changes to make it accountable to the people

From: mediacellaap <mediacellaap@gmail.com> Sun, 17 Aug '14 3:50p

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The Aam Aadmi Party demands that the central law governing the functioning of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission should be amended to make it accountable to the people, given the DERC’s extreme reluctance to fix the accountability for power cuts in Delhi and to check its arbitrariness in hiking electricity tarrifs.

It has been more than two months that the DERC had itself announced its decision to probe within a week the reasons for long power cuts in the national capital during the scorching heat in the months of May and June, but strangely it is still silent over the issue.

The DERC’s kid gloves approach in dealing with the private power distribution companies (discoms), gives rise to reasonable apprehension that this regulator has failed to act impartially against them.

The AAP is of the firm view that the time has come for reviewing the provisions of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, under which the DERC was set-up, given the lack of transparency in its functioning.

There is no doubt that this regulator of the electricity sector should remain fully autonomous, but its decisions should be open to public scrutiny, and the best way of doing it is that the law be amended to make the DERC accountable to elected representatives – the MPs and MLAs.

Its decisions on dealing with discoms and fixing of electricity tariffs should include the views of elected representatives, and it should be made mandatory for the DERC to make public the reasons for accepting or rejecting these views.

The summer months this year, particularly the month of June, had witnessed worst power cuts in recent years, and the DERC and Delhi administration watched like helpless spectators as the situation worsened with each passing day.

Instead of fixing the responsibility immediately, the DERC followed it up in July by announcing a power tarrif hike, and the cushion it sought to provide by withdrawing the surcharge will soon come to an end, since that relief was provided for merely three months.

Such a situation cannot be allowed to continue any further and the central government must take immediate steps to ensure that the law is amended to make the DERC functioning transparent and accountable to the public, which is not getting the service it deserves despite paying higher for it.

Regards,