JERC comes down heavily on UT Electricity Department

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 18

The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) in its order rejecting the UT power tariff hike proposal for the financial year 2015-16, has come down heavily on the UT Electricity Department directing it to file audits for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.

While slamming the department, the JERC has issued directions to submit audited accounts of the last three years before September 30.

“Non-compliance of the directive will attract proceedings under Section 142 of the Electricity Act 2003,” the commission observed.

In the absence of the audited accounts, the commission has not considered a final true up for the financial year 2011-12, 2012-13 and provisional true up for 2013-14, which is around Rs 250 crore.

“While the commission acknowledges that the efforts have been initiated by the UT Electricity Department for the preparations of accounts on commercial principles, there have been serious delays in the compliance of the directive on the account of the petitioner (UT Electricity Department),” the commission observed.

Every year, the UT Electricity Department files tariff hike petition claiming it suffered a loss but it never got the accounts audited. City residents have always objected to it stating that the UT tariff hike petition was without any base as it never audited the accounts.

Giving details about the true up, an official of the UT Electricity Department said every year, the department spent money to provide power supply to residents and the commission also released fund for the same. But if there was a gap on the amount released and the actual expenditure, the department filed true up before the commission to recover the financial gap. It has Rs 250 crore gap of the last three financial years, which it had sought from the JERC, he said.