The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Monday announced the reduction of fixed charges by 50% on unused sanctioned load for non-domestic consumers in the Capital. The order, a temporary relief valid for two months, will benefit over 1 million industrial and commercial consumers in Delhi.
The power regulator’s order means that those industries, shops and offices which were completely shut during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in April and May will now be charged only 50% of the fixed charge for the two months. The DERC directed the private distribution companies to adjust the refund value for the two months in the upcoming next two bills of beneficiaries.
The order comes just three days after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on September 4 assured representatives of trade and industry associations that his government would provide relief on the fixed power charges that commercial and industrial units are obliged to pay despite economic losses due to Covid-19.
Responding to the DERC’s order on Monday, Kejriwal tweeted: “The Delhi government stands with the people of Delhi in this hour of crisis. This relief in fixed charges will help lakhs of people to face the hardships caused by Corona.”
A senior DERC official explained that the benefit will not be limited to just those who consumed zero units in April and May. “The Commission has divided the cost into two parts. The first part is the maximum demand indicator (MDI) which the consumer will be charged at the prescribed rates. The second part is the sanctioned load, the cost of which will be charged at 50% - Rs 125/kVA/month instead of Rs 250/kVA/month,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
This means if a factory has a sanctioned load of 100 kVA and it consumed only 5 kVA in April during the lockdown, then it will be charged Rs 13,125 for that month instead of Rs 25,000.
Delhi’s power minister Satyendar Jain said the impact of the fixed charge waiver is expected to be around Rs 160 crore.
“This will benefit around 44,000 industrial consumers and around 10 lakh non-domestic/commercial consumers. The total un-utilised power capacity in Delhi during the lockdown months was 80%, out of which 84% pertained to non-domestic consumers and 75% for industrial consumers,” Jain said.
Of the three power discoms, maximum industrial units fall under the Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) which supplies power to 35,000 industries.
Trade and industry associations welcome the move, even as residents welfare associations (RWAs) rued that some relief should have been granted to domestic consumers as well.
Sandeep Khandelwal, chairman, Delhi hotels and restaurant’s owner’s association (DHROA), said the decision will provide relief to 3,000 budget hotels in the city, which recently got permission to resume business.
“Waiving off fixed charges in electricity bills was our main demand during our meeting with the chief minister. We are glad that the DERC and the Delhi government have been receptive to our problems,” Khandelwal said.
Saurabh Gandhi, secretary of United Residents of Delhi, an umbrella body of RWAs which is active in matters related to power in the city, said fixed charges should be subsidised for domestic consumers as well for the lockdown months.
“Instead, the DERC and the Delhi government increased the burden on domestic consumers by increasing the pension surcharge from 3.8% to 5% in the latest power tariff order. Ideally, the government should bear the cost of payment to the Delhi Vidyut Board pensioners. Nowhere else does it happen that citizens directly pay for the pension of a company. This is unfair. Also, the DERC did not pay heed to our request of reducing fixed charges,” he said.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta questioned the independence and autonomy of the DERC.
“DERC is a quasi-judicial and autonomous body. The Arvind Kejriwal government is trying to distract the people of Delhi to derail the agitation of domestic consumers against the fixed charges. With this order, the Kejriwal government and the DERC have taken care of the interests of power companies. Fixed charges should be waived off even for domestic consumers and for a period till June at least, since in Delhi, the lockdown continued till then,” Gupta said.
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