The BJP on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of “failing” to keep his promise to provide relief on fixed electricity charges to the Capital’s residents and announced it would take up the matter at a public hearing here.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Vijender Gupta said he would present his petition on tariffs for 2017-18 and 2019-20 at a public hearing of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) scheduled to be held at the SCOPE Convention Centre on Wednesday.
“The Chief Minister on September 3, 2018, had assured that he would provide relief from the fixed charges on electricity...but he failed to provide any relief,” Mr. Gupta alleged.
Subsequently, on June 2 this year, Mr. Kejriwal had claimed that the fixed charge component of power tariffs was raised by the DERC last year “without consulting the Delhi government” and again promised to provide relief on the fixed charges, the BJP leader said.
“But he has so far failed to provide any relief due to connivance with discoms. In the petition to the DERC, I will insist that the fixed charges, power purchase adjustment charges [PPAC] and surcharge and pension trust surcharge must be immediately rolled back,”he said.
The Rohini MLA further said that he would also demand compensation to electricity consumers for financial losses on account of payment of these charges during the last more than one year.
“The BJP will never allow any additional burden on electricity consumers. In place of revising power tariffs, the government must seriously ensure that various types of charges, including fixed charges are rolled back...CM Kejriwal, Power Minister, Satyendar Jain and other AAP leaders are projecting a misleading and false picture with regard to power tariffs and fixed charges,” Mr. Gupta added.
Responding to the allegations, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We believe that the government is working on it. If the CM has committed to something, then he will do it with whatever resources available.”
