The Hindu : New Delhi News : Private power regime fails to impress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 24, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Private power regime fails to impress

Sujay Mehdudia

Power cuts, load sheddings order of the day; role of Govt. in the whole affair intriguing, feel experts

NEW DELHI: Although privatisation of the power sector in the Capital in July 2002 was supposed to put an end to the power-cut and load-shedding regime in the city, the situation by all accounts has remained far from satisfactory. Blackouts, power cuts and load-shedding continue unabated and any fruits of privatisation are yet to percolate to the grassroots.

Not only has the worrying power situation made life difficult for lakhs of residents of the city, it also reflects poorly on the private distribution companies as well as the Delhi Government which is a 49 per cent stakeholder in the venture. "The electricity bill of an average household has gone up by almost 30 to 40 per cent during the past three years of privatisation but the quality of power has remained poor. The power tariff has been increased twice in the past two years and another hike is round the corner next month. How long can things go on like this?" asks an exasperated Delhiite.

Going by the barrage of public complaints, the first and foremost gift of privatisation was inflated bills and fast running meters. The Delhi Government has continued to stand by the private distribution companies and done little to offer relief to the people of the Capital. The role of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) too has been not very encouraging as far as protecting the interests of consumers is concerned. "There is no respite for consumers as DERC continues to give one relief after another to the discoms at a time when they should be penalised for under-performance,'' says a senior official on condition of anonymity.

"It is nothing but a dream shattered. The Delhi Government has no control over the private distribution companies. They are not being held accountable for not utilising public money to improve the system. Their records indicate that everything is not right and a lot of fudging is taking place with connivance of the Delhi Government,'' says the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president, Harsh Vardhan.

Experts are of the view that privatisation of power has been controversial right from the beginning and the role of the Delhi Government in the whole affair has been somewhat intriguing. Instead of speaking out for the consumers, it has always gone out its way to support the discoms. The track record of BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna has come in for flak from not only the consumers but also the citizens' elected representatives who have complained to the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, that the company had not been doing enough as far as investing money to augment infrastructure is concerned. However, the working of North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) has come in for praise inside and outside the Vidhan Sabha with the incidence of complaints coming down with each passing year.

The promise of making Delhi power-cut free has not come about. After every crisis an emergency meeting of the discoms is held and the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary warn them of action if things do not fall in line. However, within 24 hours the situation is back to normal.

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