Delhi discoms petition DERC, cite rev gap to seek tariff hike, say sources

Discoms in Delhi have sought a cost-reflective tariff for the current financial year through aggregate revenue requirement and true-up petitions to power regulator DERC, sources in the distribution companies said.

Electricity rates in Delhi have not been hiked since 2014.

In their true-up (reconciliation of actual and estimated accounts) petitions, the discoms have shown a revenue gap of Rs 2,906 crore. The aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) petitions project a standalone revenue gap of Rs 7,817 crore.

The petitions were uploaded on the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) website. No official response was available from the BSES, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) or Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) over the issue. The distribution companies submitted their petitions for truing-up of their accounts till 2021-22 and the ARR and tariff for 2023-24.

As mandated, the discoms submitted their ARRs — practically their annual budgets — to the DERC on May 22.

The true-up petitions from the discoms basically reconcile projected versus actual expenses. These show a substantial standalone revenue gap of around Rs 2,906 crore for the different discoms — Rs 252 crore for NDMC, Rs 1,289 crore for BRPL, Rs 525 crore for BYPL and Rs 841 crore for TPDDL.

The ARR projects revenue gaps of Rs 7,817 crore for 2023-24 — Rs 357 crore for NDMC, Rs 3,794 crore for BRPL, Rs 1,629 crore for BYPL and Rs 2,037 crore for TPDDL. As there has been no tariff increase since 2014, the discoms have requested the regulator to allow a cost-reflective tariff for 2023-24 to maintain “uninter

rupted” and quality power supply to consumers in Delhi, the sources said.