The Hindu : New Delhi News : Demand to disband DERC

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Monday, Nov 21, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Demand to disband DERC

Staff Reporter

`Regulator has failed to discharge its fundamental duties'

NEW DELHI: The United Residents' Joint Action (URJA) has demanded that the Delhi Government disband the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) as it was only "working as a proxy for the power companies and cared little about protecting the interests of consumers''.

Upping the ante against the Delhi Government and the DERC, Anant Trivedi president of Ishwar Nagar RWA said the regulator had failed to discharge its fundamental duties in protecting the interests of consumers and ensuring a fair operating environment in the power sector.

"The regulator has completely lost the confidence of the people and is dancing to the tune of the private discoms,'' he added.

Refund

"The citizens of Delhi have suffered long enough. They don't wish to hear from Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that there will be no more installation of electronic meters. All we want to know is how soon will the Government order removal of these meters and refund the money illegally fleeced from the unsuspecting consumers by the private discoms?' he asked.

"Why was the consumer not informed that shared neutral can result in fictitious billing? Why should the consumers shell out large sums to rewire their houses as a safeguard against fraudulent meters? Why were the discoms allowed to extort extra money on the pretext of checking power theft? These questions remain unanswered and the DERC has repeatedly failed to perform in the interest of the consumer who is still awaiting implementation of performance standards and compensation procedures,'' Mr. Trivedi said.

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