KERC chief leaves it to KPTCL

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JAN. 23. ``Law-makers themselves cannot break the law and punish others for doing so,'' the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) Chairman, Mr. Philipose Mathai, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Mathai was speaking on ``KERC directives in tariff revision'' at the Power Engineers' Day function organised by the KEB Engineers' Association (KEBEA).

His comment amounted to an indirect criticism of the Government's recent stay on KERC's power tariff orders issued last month.

Mr. Mathai said the commission had been set up by the Government through implementing the Karnataka Electricity Reforms Act. The commission directives were issued ``keeping the Reforms Act in mind'', he said.

Mr. Mathai stressed the KERC did not have to justify its work. ``We have done our duty. It is up to the licensee, in this case the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), to implement them (the tariff orders),'' he said. The regulations were ``binding on the licensee''.

He was at pains to explain the legality of the commission's existence and the legitimacy of its orders and even delved into the Western origin of the regulator concept. ``The regulator was formed because governments felt the need for autonomous, independent bodies to take apolitical decisions in a balanced manner keeping in mind the interests of the stake holders, investor and the consumers,'' he said.

In the U.K. (United Kingdom), the basic brief (of the regulator) was on de-regularisation or de-monopolisation while in India, the thrust was on attracting investment. And as regards its legality, Mr. Mathai said the legislature had given it the authority to regulate and ``unless these powers are retracted by law, the regulator can issue directives''.

Moreover, if the legislature amended the law, the regulator could work within the purview of the amended law but ``no law-maker or commission could violate the law,'' he said.

Mr. Mathai regretted that there had been poor response from organisations such as the KEBEA to KERC regulations and its discussion papers. ``Kindly respond or we will consider your silence as agreement to our directions,'' he said.

He believed that there had been insufficient discussion on the structural change of the power sector. And there was still a lingering fear because the Orissa experiment (in power sector privatisation) had not done well. ``You have not given your judgment on the proposed plans for unbundling and privatisation,'' he said. He hoped that the KEBEA would debate on the issue.

He concluded by urging them to come up with concrete suggestions and not to ``let bureaucrats do the suggestion-making''.

Mr. V.P.Baligar, KPTCL Chairman and Managing Director, stressed that the it was ```committed and sincere'' in its efforts to implement the KERC orders. He gave examples where some directives were ``beyond our control because of problems of logistics, lack of funds and manpower''.

For instance, the KERC had asked the KPTCL to publish merit order despatches. This went against the State Government's directives on procurement of supplies where preference had to be given to public sector undertakings. ``If we stop giving preference to PSUs such as Kavika and NGEF who manufacture good quality material, they will have to close down,'' he said.

The Government would have to file a review petition on this aspect, he said and urged the KERC to be more understanding of the KPTCL's problems and to show it how to overcome those obstacles.

Mr. Baligar said he had asked the Government to set up district- level committees headed by the Deputy Commissioner and comprising the Superintendent of Police, the zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Engineer to help the KPTCL in revenue collection. ``Some districts are agitating against paying KPTCL dues therefore we need the DC's support,'' he explained.

Mr. K.C.Naikwadi, KEBEA President, and Mr. H.R.Gopal, KERC Member Technical, were present.

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