Street light pulls discoms and Delhi local bodies polls apart

Dues that NDMC is yet to pay TPDDL totals up to Rs 62 crore for the last two years

Apart from facing increasing cost of power and no assistance on falling revenues, the private distribution companies in Delhi have now landed in tiff with civic bodies, overstreet lights. As the opinions of both continue to be poles apart on issues such as payment for repairing street lights to energy charges to even the completion certificate for repairing street lights, the Delhi streets may turn darker bythe day.

 

North and North West parts of Delhi are particularly vulnerable. The dues that New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is yet to pay Tata Power Delhi Distribution Company (TPDDL), the power seller in these areas, totals up to Rs 62 crore for the last two years. This, TPDDL said would lead to switching off power for street lights.

 

"There is a difference over the records maintained by us and by TPDDL. Government-controlled Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (DESU) managed the power distribution earlier," said a senior executive at NDMC who did not want to be quoted. We used to buypower in bulk from DESU and sell according to the demand in the city. Those arrears amounted to Rs 180 crore according to which NDMC was paid. "There was no tariff increase for us, until last week, so we are adhering to the old regime."

 

TPDDL also alleged NDMC has also not paid electricity tax amounting to Rs 18 crore. Electric tax is paid by the local body that 'collects' to the one which 'provides' the facility, and in NDMC areas, both the functions are performed by NDMC itself. "So passing on the tax collection to TPDDL does not arise at all," said the executive.

 

BSES, another private power distributor in Delhi, has hit a roadblock in East Delhi areas. BSES failed to issue work completion certificates to East Delhi Municipal Corporation for the non-functional street lights which were repaired by it. The dues, dating back to 2005, have been hence stuck. 

 

"Since then the rates of street lights and its repairing cost has gone up. In the meeting held with the discoms and the municipal corporations, BSES admitted it issued work certificates but EDMC contested that it hasn't," said one of the executives present at the meeting.

 

Delhi has three municipal corporations and NDMC as urban local bodies. NDMC manages power distribution in its areas. In south Delhi, the concerned municipality corporation deducted half of BSES' dues since it maintained street light during March to August 2013.

 

"The representative of S-DMC said as the issue of non-functionality of street lights was raised by councillors, so they deducted the amount. BSES, however said that there was no joint inspection that was carried out to ascertain the same," said the executive quoted above. The principal secretary(power) who chaired the meeting directed the municipal corporations to pay all pending dues to the discoms as they have to make further payment for sale ofpower. But, NDMC is strongly adhering to its stand that the discoms especially TPDDL needs to come up with documental proof of pending payments. 

 

"We have written to TPDDL to provide detailed information on the pending payments. It would be difficult to fetch such information as it wasn't properly documented during the pre-privatisation era," said a NDMC official. 

 

As all arguments centred around street lights, BSES took it to another level on Wednesday by launching a toll-free number for complaints regarding their non-functioning, the first discom in the city to take up such initiative.