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DERC chief contradicts Ministers' remarks

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI FEB. 18. By contradicting the statements made by the two senior Delhi Ministers on the alleged streetlight scam on Saturday, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) today added to the confusion on the issue.

At a press conference here, the DERC Chairman, V.K. Sood, said as per the Commission's tariff order of 2002, the Discoms could charge from the streetlight owning agencies Rs. 60 per point per month for maintenance and Rs. 3.60 per unit of electricity consumed. "This includes repair and replacement of bulbs. For major replacement, the (Discoms) can charge as per actual,'' he said.

Reading out from the tariff order, Mr. Sood denied that he had issued different rates for different sets of streetlights as was claimed by the Delhi Urban Development Minister, A.K. Walia, and the Delhi Power Minister, Ajay Maken, at a press conference on Saturday. The joint Press conference was also addressed by the Leader of House in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Ram Babu Sharma.

As per the DERC tariff order of 2002, Dr. Walia had said the MCD and Public Works Department was paying Rs. 124 per month for a 40 watt tubelight, Rs. 152 for 60 watt, Rs. 165 for 70 watt, Rs. 207 for 100 watt, Rs. 274 for 150 watt and Rs. 410 for 250 watt. The MCD has 2.87 lakh points which include 87,544 points of 100 watt bulbs and 1,23,687 points of 40 watt tubelights. The PWD has about 20,000 points mostly of 250 watt. Mr. Maken had said both MCD and PWD were making payments to private Discoms at rate fixed by the DERC and there has been no change in this.

In reply to another question, Mr. Sood said that streetlight owning agencies in the Capital -- MCD, PWD and Delhi Development Authority -- were free to give the task of maintenance and upkeep of streetlights to any companies. "They are not bound to give it to the Discoms,'' he clarified. He denied that the Commission has received any letter from the MCD or the Delhi Government about streetlight. "The tariff order of 2002 is still in place and there has been no changes to it,'' he asserted.

On the issue of single point contractors, Mr. Sood said the Commission has received some complaints from the public that the DERC's tariff order were not implemented and were forced to give the exorbitant money demanded by the contractors.

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