KOLKATA: The issue of electoral bonds has resurfaced, this time in West Bengal. Apprehending that the purchase of electoral bonds may have a direct impact on consumer power tariffs in Kolkata and its adjoining areas, the All Bengal Electricity Consumers’ Association (ABECA), an organisation representing power consumers in West Bengal, has demanded a thorough investigation.
The SUCI (Communist)-backed organisation has called on the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) to investigate whether the purchase of electoral bonds by Haldia Energy Limited (HEL) would impose any burden on consumer tariffs.
According to the Election Commission of India’s website, HEL a company under the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group purchased 395 electoral bonds amounting to ₹377 crore in 2019. In a letter to the WBERC Chairman, ABECA stated that it had identified certain lacunae in various Annual Performance Review (APR) orders of both CESC and HEL. CESC, also part of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, is the sole electricity distributor for approximately 40 lakh consumers in and around Kolkata.
Referring to HEL’s bond purchases, ABECA stated that it is the responsibility of the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission to ensure that such purchases were made solely from the company’s profit or return on equity, and that they were properly disclosed in the annual accounts as well as in the APR petitions for the relevant years.
"The Commission must investigate whether the purchase of such bonds, either fully or partially, was booked under any accounting head other than profit or return on equity, as this would create a burden on consumer tariffs. If found to be recorded under any other expenditure head, such expenditure must be disallowed,” ABECA stated.
“This is necessary because, as per statute, only reasonable expenditure directly related to the supply of electricity can be recovered through tariffs as part of the cost of electricity supply,” the letter added.