Delhi's power supply firms move court over dues' notice

BSES is challenging the notice served by the NTPC asking them to deposit their dues by Feb 11 or face a cut in electricity supply

The Supreme Court will hear Friday a plea by Reliance Group-led power distribution firms in the national capital - BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna - challenging the notice served by the state-run NTPC asking them to deposit their dues by Feb 11 or face a cut in electricity supply.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam directed the listing of the matter Friday after the counsel for BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna raised it before the court.

The counsel said a similar case was pending in another court in Supreme Court in which the company is seeking the recovery of around Rs.15,000 crore from the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), and hence the petition should be listed alongside.

The petition has roped in the central and state governments as also NTPC and the DERC as respondents.

The two firms supply electricity to nearly 70 percent of the city.

The move comes against the backdrop of the Delhi government's recommendation to the regulator, calling for the revocation of the licenses issued to the two firms if they they failed to pay their dues to NTPC and/or resort to long power outages in city.

Reacting to it, the two firms had said the recommendation was illegal and arbitrary, and that they expected an independent decision by the regulator while dealing with the subject.

"As legally advised, the proposed cancellation of licenses in this situation is arbitrary and illegal, and will only serve to de-motivate thousands of our employees who have timelessly worked to transform the power supply situation in Delhi," they said.