The delay in paying out the promised compensation to consumers for the power cuts they suffer may be due the power regulator’s preoccupation with fixing a new power tariff.
At least, this is what Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission sources suggested as the reason why the pay-for-power-cut scheme announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal himself in June is yet to see reality.
The new tariff order is likely to be out in the next few weeks and the power-cut scheme may get concretised next month or later, said sources.
The compensation, according to the proposal, would be paid to consumers only if a power cut lasts beyond one hour and disrupts supply to at least 50 homes.
The indication of delay in the consumer-friendly scheme was made on Tuesday when residents braved an over three-hour-long power cut in Pandav Nagar area of Patparganj constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Last week rioting erupted in Kalyanpuri area of east Delhi after residents came to roads after an alleged eight-hour-long blackout.
Sources in the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission confirmed that the public responses sought on the pay-for-power-cut scheme are still to be considered, thus, there was more time needed to finalise it.
“As of now, the work on the new tariff order is keeping the DERC members busy,’’ said a functionary in the Commission.
The power-cut scheme would be finalised later, he said, indicating that the whole process may take around four weeks.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced his government’s intention to set performance benchmarks for discoms and make them compensate consumers for unscheduled electricity cuts going beyond one hour.
“All we want for consumers is uninterrupted and cheap power,” he said.
Power Minister Satyendar Jain said: “Work on bringing in the consumer-friendly compensation scheme is still under progress.”
Officials said the compensation scheme can be implemented only after the existing provisions in the Electricity Act are amended on the basis of suggestions from public.
The regulator is studying the proposal that says that there would be no penalty on the discoms for the first hour of a power cut during which they would be expected to set thing right.
For the second hour of the power cut, the discoms may be asked to pay Rs 50 to each consumer – out of the at least 50 affected by the black out.
For the third hour, and subsequent hours of electric supply disruption the distribution companies may have to pay at the rate of Rs 100 per hour.
The compensation will not be payable if the power cut is caused by unavoidable local faults.