CHENNAI: To avoid delay in revising electricity tariff, Tn government is planning to fill the vacancy of Member-Legal in Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) in a couple of days. The decision comes two days after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, citing the vacancy, restrained TNERC from passing orders on the proposal for tariff hike submitted to it by Tangedco. Electricity minister V Senthil Balaji announced the decision during a presser in Coimbatore on Thursday.
A senior Tangedco officer told TNIE that chief secretary V Irai Anbu, energy secretary Ramesh Chand Meena, Tangedco chairman Rajesh Lakhani, and other top bureaucrats held a meeting on Thursday in the secretariat to discuss appointment of the legal member.
“A committee headed by retired judge K Chandru, constituted to select members to TNERC, had received a few applications to the post of TNERC legal member. It also submitted a report to TN government in May. The government, however, did not appoint anyone to the post.” But the government hastened to fill the vacancy after the HC order because not doing so might delay tariff hike.
Such a delay, he added, would mean that the State government would not be able to introduce the reforms in the distribution sector under the Centre’s Revamped Distribution Sector scheme. Tariff hike is essential to get funds from the Centre under the scheme.
‘TNERC doesn’t need Member-Legal’
TNERC retired member S Nagalsamy, however, told TNIE there was no provision in the Electricity Act, 2003, to appoint legal members to regulatory commissions and that it was the Supreme Court order of 2018 that mandated it.
“We had passed orders on Tangedco’s tariff revision proposals without legal representation,” he added. He also opined that it was not necessary to have a Member-Legal in TNERC as the commission handled only technical subjects.
BMS (electricity wing) State organisation secretary R Murali Krishnan demanded that the Tamil Nadu government disclose the reason for the delay in appointing a Member- Legal to TNERC. Meanwhile, K Venkatachalam, chief advisor of TN Spinning Mills Association, termed the public hearings held by TNERC in Coimbatore, Madurai, and Chennai as “illegal” since it did not have a Member- Legal.
“We demand that all processes, including public hearings, be cancelled. Tangedco must submit another petition to TNERC after the latter appoints a Member-Legal. Only then should TNERC hold public hearings,” he added. He said they have filed a caveat petition before the Madras High Court.