Jago Party protests against electricity price hike of 22% at Jantar Mantar on Sat, Sept 17 at 3 pm - pl come
Surya Prakash Loonker
*Venue: Jantar Mantar*
*Date: Saturday, September 17, 2011
*Time: 3 pm*
Looking forward for your active participation
10 Reasons why there should be no Power Tariff Hike
Wish we had known of DERC's leanings towards Wholesale Price Index (WPI), a
concept not recognised under Electricity Acts since 1910, we could have
presented our objections and suggestions in terms they preferred. We
foolishly based our arguments on Logical, Technical, Legal and Criminal
grounds....... while all they understand is Inflation and WPI. Its time DERC
should shift its Office to Azadpur Mandi or Kharibaoli ...... it will be
simpler and cheaper to get WPI data, than to conduct farce Public Hearings.
1. We want CAG Audit:
Honest consumers want to strike a balance between Industry growth and
Consumer's interest and have no problem paying Fair Value for the Power they
consume. The Question is who and how Fair value is determined? DISCOMS
present voluminous reports listing actual, dubious and intended
expenditures, cleverly cooking up losses due to theft, under recoveries etc.
that are difficult for DERC or common man to understand. The RWAs / NGOs
presented their case in Public Hearings after studying accounts and replies
filed by DISCOMS ....... former Chairman Mr. Brijender Singh agreed with the
findings of the social groups and ordered a 25% decrease in Tariffs last
year.... Delhi Govt. was quick to stall it. This year another Chairman came
to a different conclusion citing Wholesale Price Index as the reason for a
22% increase ...... giving no weightage to the facts and figures showing Rs.
3577/- surplus funds in the accounts submitted by DISCOMS. DERC has admitted
in Court that they have no way of Auditing the Voluminous Accounts submitted
by DISCOMS, claiming only CAG can do that. Then how DERC can determine
tariff is any body's guess.
2. Transmission & Distribution Loses (Theft & Dacoity):
When the DISCOMS took charge there was 65% average T&D loss reported and a
promise was held out that power tariff shall start reducing after 5 years
and promised to bring Power Tariffs down by curbing theft. Nine years on the
average loss is down to 15% and and the consumers did not get any relief by
way of proportionate reduced tariffs. Who has pocketed all the money
generated due to 50% reduction in Theft? Why are there still some areas
reporting 70% losses? Who is protecting them? We suspect DISCOMS are not
interested in curbing theft as it is their business necessity. Thefts come
in handy to hide bulk side deals and to please Political Masters to
cultivate vote banks. Honest consumers are being milked through Fast Running
Meters and street lights are kept on during day time to feed side deals.
3. Dismal Performance Standards:
At the time of handover, the DISCOMS had promised qualitative uninterrupted
24X7 Power Supply, within two years of operation. Nine years on the inverter
/ generator industry is thriving and the consumer is forced to invest in
these space consuming implements that are unfriendly to the environment.
Consumers spend on an average Rs. 1250/- a month to charge and maintain
them. Expensive equipments like ACs, Computers, LCD TVs, and Home Theaters
go bust due to sudden spikes in voltage, if Stabilizers and UPS are not
installed.... and they too consume Power. Only World Class City Delhi has
this privilege. Spikes in voltage also make the meters jump a unit or two.
4. Abolish Fixed Charge:
A monthly Fixed Charge on the basis of Sanctioned Load is being levied and
recovered from all consumers irrespective of how much Power they consume.
Earlier Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) used to levy Minimum Charges, having taken
a one-time Security Deposit and other charges on the basis of Sanctioned
Load. After privatisation the Government and DERC very cleverly converted
this Minimum Charge to Fixed Charge, resulting in windfall profits to the
DISCOMS. Levying Fixed Charge on a monthly basis is nothing but charging the
consumers twice under two different heads for the same thing month after
month. In fact Fixed Charge has the highest percentage impact on lower
consumption.
5. Why Reward Inefficiency and Govt. Apathy:
Every consumer is today burning Power for basic services that the Govt. has
to provide and charges for. Residents are forced to install power guzzling
motors to draw water online and another motor to pump water to overhead
tanks. This water has to be further purified by expensive machines which
operate on power. During peak summer months, the impact is manifold, greater
water consumption means longer hours of running motors, therefore DISCOMS,
already hard pressed on peak load demand, have to buy additional/avoidable
expensive power in open exchange. Like inverters it is estimated that motors
alone use up 200 units of power per month per household. If DJB does its job
efficiently, there will be no need to buy extra power saving money and
recourses.
6. DISCOMS poor Business Decisions:
Why are DISCOMS still buying from outside, that too very expensive and of
questionable quality. Not setting up power plants in time, was their
business decision. And why did they not opt for alternate hydel technology
in Himalayas instead of setting up Gas based plants near Delhi? They talk of
Gas being environment friendly ...... what about the transportation of Gas
adding to cost and pollution. They could have chosen Jharkhand where coal is
in abundance and disposing of Fly Ash to fill excavated mines ...... but how
else would they have got expensive land closer to Delhi for a pittance. And
what stops them from getting into long term Power Purchase Agreements, their
by offsetting the inflationary trends.
7. End Monopoly:
At the time of Privatisation dreams were sold to the people that by 2005,
just as in case of Mobile phones, consumers will be able to choose their
supplier. The benevolent Government and DERC did not see it proper to bring
about competition and DISCOMS knowing the people have nowhere to go, used
falsehoods like "NTPC will stop supply of power if demands are not met as
they are unable to clear their dues". Competition would have kept them
honest/transparent, just as in case of Mobile Companies bringing down the
call rates from Rs. 32/- to 32 paise per min. Can the Capital city depend on
a supplier who is so much in debt and lacks credit for even two days of
Power Supply???
8. One City - One Power Tariff:
NDMC supplies power @ Rs. 1.80/- per unit then how come DISCOMS who were
brought in to supply Cheaper, Uninterrupted, Clean Power is asking for
Tariff increase and seeks to be Subsidised for a purely Business venture.
NDMC gets cheap power and sells to Commercial establishments at huge
profits. Power Purchased for domestic use by DISCOMS and NDMC should be at
the same cost and in direct proportion to their requirement based on the
Load they supply. NDMC should not be allowed to sell power in the open
market, instead surrender it to DISCOMS for domestic consumers outside
Lutyens Delhi.
9. White Paper on Inventory, Assets & Salaries:
It has been nine years since DISCOMS have been in operation and to date the
value of Inventory i.e. Transformers, Cables, Wires, Equipment etc. has not
been established. Nor, has it been established as to how much office space
is needed and all extra prime office space should be restored to the public.
DISCOMS are reporting huge outflows in staff salaries that far exceed
industry standards, nor are they linked to Performance. No one knows the
cost of distribution of 1MW in India.
10. Fast Running Meters:
Although tariffs have not been raised in the past 5 years, it has been
noticed the residents are paying 25% to 40% higher bills. It has been
noticed that even those who are using the same number of appliances are
getting higher bills. Experts have informed us that this is due to imbalance
in the Three Phase with Single Neutral system, wherein the 'Residual Back
Flow' gets recorded in the meter reading. The earlier Mechanical Meters did
not have the Neutral wire connected to the Meters Recording Mechanism, where
as these Electronic Meters have the Neutral attached to the meters Recording
Mechanism, which results in recording the Residual Back Flow, therefore
INFLATED BILLS. Field Testing and Field surveys by an Independent Institute
of Repute and Civil Society members should be ordered as promised by DERC in
the Public Hearing held on 4th Aug. 2011. An Audit should also be conducted
transformer wise on Units supplied and billed for the past three years of
Peak Load Periods in Winters and Summers.
Information issued in public interest by:
Surya Prakash Loonker, Politician, Jago Party - Better India Thru Politics
A-8 Mandakini Enclave, Alaknanda, New Delhi - 110 019 T: 011-40533711 E:
s...@loonker.in W: http://loonker.in, http://jago.in