NEW DELHI: The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission is running without a chairperson for over a month and is left with a single member on the panel.Justice (Retd) Shabhibul Shastri retired from the post DERC’s chairperson on January 9 this year.
According to the sources, the situation may impact the smooth functioning of the city’s power sector especially when Delhi is preparing to host G-20 events. “With the G-20 Summit, Delhi cannot afford to have a single-member in DERC. Reliable and quality power supply will be critical for success of summit events,” a senior official said.
Besides, sources said that the absence of chairperson and a legal member on the panel is further delaying the announcements of power tariffs.“The power-tariff for the year FY 2022-23 is yet to be announced even though the year is about to end.
It is happening because of the delay in appointment to the post of the chairperson,” the official added.Officials said that an understaffed state regulator, the Ministry of Power wrote a letter to all the State Chief Secretaries reminding them of the requirement of the appointment of the Chairperson/ Members to the posts in a time-bound manner.