Power Ministry seeks probe against member of Delhi power regulator

The power ministry has written to the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) to initiate an inquiry against the incumbent member of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) for "proved misbehaviour" under the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003.

The ministry said the DERC has allowed an accumulation of regulatory assets to ?8,955 crore and has not provided any plans to liquidate it, which is against the provisions of the Act.

The ministry has also sighted non-compliance with APTEL's orders by DERC and the observations of the Supreme Court against the state electricity regulatory body.


DERC is a three-member body, including the chairperson. However, DERC's chairperson Justice (Retd) Shabihul Hasnain retired on January 9 and the member, legal, prior to that. At present, DERC consists of only AK Ambasht, member technical, and so the inquiry has been sought against the lone member, for his removal.

"Only the state government can write for an inquiry against a state regulatory member as per the Electricity Act," Ambasht told ET.

State electricity regulatory commissions, like the DERC, are quasi-judicial bodies and determine electricity rates in respective states. The appointment of chairperson and member of state electricity regulators are approved by the state governments.

The commission has not come up with a trajectory to liquidate these regulatory assets to date, the letter said.

Regulatory assets in the power sector include previously incurred losses that are deferred expenditure, and which can be recovered from consumers in the future provided they are approved by regulatory authorities.

The DERC has also not adhered to the statutory prescription of the Tariff Policy, 2016, the ministry said.

In the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the cross subsidization of various categories of consumers is not within prescribed limits, which is in gross violation of the tariff policy, it added.

The ministry pointed out that the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity has in a series of orders stated that the DERC was not performing its duties in accordance with the Electricity Act.