Kejriwal's statement on discom penalty is incorrect, misleading, says LG's office

The office of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, on Monday refuted allegations of the Delhi government that it had cancelled AAP government order to make discoms pay compensation to consumers for unscheduled power cuts.

In a statement, the Lt. Governor's office said, "Newspaper reports have appeared today, quoting the Chief Minister of Delhi on the issue of penalty on discoms. He is reported to have said, "Fifteen days ago, the LG called the file pertaining to this matter and cancelled the order." This statement is incorrect and misleading," the statement said.

The statement said the office of the Lt. Governor has so far not issued any fresh orders on this issue.

"Files have been submitted to the office of the Lt. Governor by the GNCTD following the Hon'ble High Court's order dated 4th August 2016. All such files, which have come to the Lt. Governor's office, are likely to contain Constitutional infirmities," the statement added.

Quoting the High Court's order on the matter, the statement said, "The proceedings of the Government of NCT of Delhi, Department of Power No.F.11(58)/2010/Power/1856 dated 12.06.2015 issuing policy directions to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission regarding disruption in electricity supply to consumers and compensation payable in respect thereof are illegal and unconstitutional since such policy directions cannot be issued without communicating to the Lt. Governor of NCT of Delhi for his views."

The statement further said it is unfortunate that factually incorrect and misleading statements are being placed in the public domain.

Addressing a gathering at North West Delhi's Najafgarh area, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said that the Lt. Governor has cancelled the AAP government's order to make discoms pay compensation to consumers for unscheduled power cuts, alleging that the Centre was hand-in-glove with power companies.

"Fifteen days ago, the LG called the file pertaining to this matter and cancelled this order. (Narendra) Modi is hand-in-glove with power companies," Kejriwal said.

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had in April passed an order, asking power distribution companies to compensate consumers for unscheduled power cuts extending up to two hours in the national capital.

It also suggested amendments to Delhi Electricity Supply Code and Performance Standards Regulations in which the maximum time limit and rates for outages caused by different reasons has been mentioned. The compensation amount ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 100 for each day of outage.