New chief in saddle, PSERC gets going on fresh tariff rate

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, February 10

DS Bains, a retired IAS officer, has been appointed the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) chairman.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal cleared the appointment today after Bains’ name was recommended by Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, who holds the power portfolio.

Though the selection process for the chairman and two members of the commission was completed last month, the government accepted the selection panel’s recommendations today.

Santokh Singh Sarna has been appointed a member while fresh applications would be invited to fill the second post of member, which would fall vacant on February 12. With the commission being reconstituted, the process would now begin to decide the new tariff order for Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

At this time of the year, the role of PSERC becomes crucial as its members hold public hearings for the PSPCL’s Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR), following which the fresh tariff is decided.

The past practice has been to hold public hearings in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, besides Chandigarh, where consumers air their grievances and give suggestions on the proposed tariff hike, which is recommended by the PSERC after due consultation with its 21-member advisory board.

As the commission’s previous chairperson, Romila Dubey, retired on February 4 and a member’s post was lying vacant for over a year, no public hearings could take place during this period. The PSPCL had submitted its ARR to PSERC, which accepted their Rs730 crore revenue requirement post-consultations.

Sources say the new commission would first decide if it was willing to accept the previous commission’s recommendations and then hold public hearings. The tariff for the next fiscal, which has to be effectively increased (by 20 per cent) as the government has decided to take over the PSPCL’s entire debt burden (Rs2,2000 crore) under UDAY scheme, would then be decided.