JOIN USState-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on Tuesday said Reliance Group owned distribution companies here have a history of payment defaults and their electricity supply would be curtailed if they failed to pay their dues of around Rs 368 crore by Monday.
After issuing notices to BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna on Saturday, NTPC said it is in trouble and unless the dues are cleared the company may have to stop power supply to these discoms.
BSES Rajdhani's last letter of credit was encashed on January 31, leaving a shortfall of Rs 271.61 crore.
“We are in a difficult situation. If we are not paid in time, we will have to regulate nearly 2,000 MW of power, we have (other) buyers for it,” Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC Arup Roy Choudhury said here.
There is a payment shortfall of Rs 96.07 crore on BSES Yamuna.
However, he said there are no payment issues with Tata Power Delhi Distribution, another distribution company, which supplies electricity to the national capital.
“We do not have TPA (Third Party Protection Audit) with the Delhi government like other governments. Discoms (in other states) are saved by state governments through the TPAs, under which we get payment from the states under the state allocation,” Choudhury added.
When asked for his comments, Union Minister of State for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “This issue is between the DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission), the discoms in Delhi and the state government, it is not for the Union Power Ministry to comment but what we certainly do hope is that the dues rightfully in the case of NTPC should be paid as soon as possible.”