BSES discoms Yamuna and Rajdhani complain about DERC dues piling up, say 6 per cent hike in power tariff not enough

NEW DELHI: The Delhiite's woes are not limited to high tariff. The 6 per cent hike in domestic tariff granted on Friday by DERC to Reliance discoms BSES Yamuna and BSES Rajdhani notwithstanding, sources in the two power companies said they have been unable to make complete current payments to gencos over the last several months.

Inability to keep up with payments to suppliers could lead to dark days, as witnessed in wake of regulation threats by National Thermal Power Corporation. Delhi's peak power demand has touched 5,700 MW and is expected to climb to 6,400 MW in weeks to follow.

On Friday, DERC granted a 6 per cent surcharge to the two discoms. The BSES discoms had sought power purchase adjustment charges up to 25 per cent for the last three quarters and, while the discom said they welcomed the amount, they pointed out it's insufficient to meet their needs.

"The PPAC surcharge will improve our cash flow to some extent. But it's far from sufficient. For several months, we are only making partial current payments to NTPC, DVC and other gencos and the overdue amount is just staggering. In addition to not being able to make current payments, the backlog amounts are piling up and so is the interest burden," said a source.

An official said that "the additional income from PPAC will start coming in from August onwards, and we need cash flow immediately for current payments. So far, gencos are cooperating with us because they realize Delhi cannot go dark, but it's a precarious situation".

Power minister Satyendar Jain could not be contacted for comments. The government, however, has made its stand on discoms clear and is banking heavily on the CAG report. In May, the government declined a comfort letter to two of the discoms that would have enabled them to get a Rs 11-crore loan from PFC, saying it did not differentiate between comfort letters and guarantee letters. "We have seen media reports but are still waiting for the government to officially communicate to us a denial of the comfort letter. We can then actively explore other avenues," said a BSES official.