NEW DELHI: A day after a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report stated that three private power distribution companies (discoms) had inflated their dues to be recovered from consumers by Rs 8,000 crore in 2012, the Congress and the BJP have demanded a CBI probe into the audit report.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said,"If the distribution companies have undermined the confidence of millions of consumers in Delhi, then it is indeed a serious matter. There should be CBI probe into the matter."
The BJP has accused the AAP Government of not initiating any action on the issue. Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said, "It has been six months since AAP Government came to power and if the electricity companies were forging the estimates then who is responsible? When the government was not formed in Delhi, people used to get 400 unit supply of electricity. The bills have gone up now. The government should own up responsibility. By giving statements or saying that electricity companies are indulging in wrongdoings won't work."
The CAG report had also suggested that there was scope for bringing down the power tariff in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the AAP demanded that Delhi government immediately ask the DERC to reject discoms' petitions for power tariff hike, and to announce lowering of tariffs in Delhi. "Around 15 MLAs of AAP fought tooth and nail to avert the tariff hike by arguing the people's case in DERC recently," the party said in a statement
A 212-page CAG Report has indicted three major power distribution companies in Delhi for tariff inflation and other actions detrimental to consumer interest.
The three private power distribution companies in Delhi -- BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL) -- are under the scanner for inflating dues to be recovered from consumers by Rs 8,000 crore. The CAG Report says that the firms manipulated consumer figures and scrap sale details and took a series of actions detrimental to consumer interests.
The discoms have refuted the allegations saying that they are speculative in nature and that the veracity of facts cannot be ascertained as the matter is sub-judice.
Calling the report "factually incorrect, mischievous and distorted", a BSES spokesperson said the report which is out in public is "blatant contempt" of the order of the Delhi High Court. "We are shocked at the highly irresponsible, factually incorrect, mischievous and distorted reporting in a section of the media, on a purported CAG audit report on the Delhi discoms. These media reports amount to blatant contempt of the order of the Delhi High Court, which has put a blanket prohibition on publication of any CAG audit Report as the matter is sub judice," said the BSES spokesperson.
Reacting to the allegations of inflating dues to be recovered from consumers, a TPDDL spokesperson maintained that as a responsible corporate, TPDDL has always "adhered to the ethical practices, worked in the consumer interest and is not involved in any wrong doing".
It may be recalled that the CAG audit was initiated by the 49-day AAP-I Government, in January 2014, to look into the malpractices by private power companies resulting in high power tariffs in the city.