NEW DELHI: Delhi Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena has ordered an inquiry into the power subsidy scheme of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, intensifying the war of words between the two sides over yet another flagship scheme of the AAP government.
Kejriwal hit back, saying AAP’s “free electricity guarantee” has been received “very well” by the people of poll-bound Gujarat. “That’s why the BJP wants to stop free electricity in Delhi,” Kejriwal tweeted. Sources said Saxena has asked Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to submit the inquiry report within seven days.
Saxena’s move followed multiple complaints filed at the LG Secretariat which raised issues of “impropriety and discrepancies” in the scheme. “The complaints suggested irregularities in the power subsidy amount given by the Delhi government to BSES discoms. The Chief Secretary will now conduct an inquiry,” said a source in the L-G office.
Sources said the Chief Secretary would also probe the non-implementation of power subsidy payment to consumers through Direct Benefit Transfer as ordered by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission in 2018. The complainants include eminent lawyers and jurists who have alleged a “massive scam” in the subsidy scheme.
According to the complaints, the AAP government has been accused of allowing BSES discoms to settle their outstanding through subsidy reimbursements instead of recovering the dues of Rs 21,200 crore allegedly owed by them (discoms), sources revealed.
It was also alleged that the discoms were allowed to charge Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) at a rate of 18% from consumers while they themselves paid LPSC at 12% to the Delhi government-owned power generation companies.