New Delhi: With temperatures rising across the country, people in Delhi are set to feel even more heat as electricity bills will increase by 7-10 percent during May-June period due to revision in Power Purchase Adjustment Cost (PPAC) charged by power distribution companies (DISCOMs). The PPAC refers to the rise in cost incurred by power generating companies on fuel (coal, gas). This increase in fuel cost increases the tariff for DISCOMs, who recover the cost from consumers.
Earlier this month, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) allowed three Delhi-based DISCOMs in three separate orders to recover the PPAC of Q3 of FY2024-25 in May-June period this year. The PPAC approved by the DERC are: 7.25 percent for BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), 8.11 percent for BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and 10.47 percent for Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL).
The United Residents of Delhi (URD), an umbrella body of residents’ welfare associations in the city, termed the move as “arbitrary.” “The process under which PPAC charges have been imposed on the people of Delhi by DERC is legally wrong,” said a statement from URD general secretary Saurabh Gandhi. “For the last several years, the Commission has been benefiting the power companies from other items. Now we had great hope from the Commission that has been formed that it will complete the work of tariff determination by following the prescribed procedure, but this Commission conducted a virtual public hearing where not enough time was given to the stakeholders to state their case,” Gandhi claimed.
It is also a fact that the PPAC claimed by various discoms and the PPAC awarded by DERC is different. For BRPL it is 7.25 percent, for BYPL it is 8.11 percent and for TPDDL it is 10.47 percent, he said. “Since the cost of fuel surcharge under u/s 64(4) is almost the same for all discoms, the percentage differential tariff should have been the same,” Gandhi added.