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L-G slams Delhi govt for not conducting audit of amount disbursed to private discoms

L-G slams Delhi govt for not conducting audit of amount disbursed to private discoms
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New Delhi: Delhi L-G VK Saxena slammed the AAP-led Delhi government for avoiding audit of subsidiaries amounting to Rs.13,549 crore given to private discoms for more than 6 years (2016-2022). The L-G has reiterated his stand that power subsidy should be provided to the poor, pointing that amounts being given to discoms be audited to ensure non-pilferage.

For now, Saxena has allowed the proposal from the Delhi government to conduct audit through auditors empanelled with CAG. He underlined that audit of huge amounts of public money should be conducted by CAG and that an audit conducted by auditors empanelled with CAG cannot be considered as sufficient supplant for an audit

by CAG itself.

The AAP government had been perfunctorily asking the DERC to conduct the audit since 2015 though it could have invoked Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003 and given binding directions to DERC for the same.

However, DERC did not conduct any audit, upon which the Power Department through the Chief Secretary moved a file for asking the DERC to compulsorily carry out audit invoking the above Act in December, 2022, which was turned down by the then Deputy Chief Minister and Power Minister Manish Sisodia on January

27, 2023.

The L-G in his file noting to Chief Minister wrote, “What is even more astounding is the fact that even after the proposal to get special audit done by DERC by invoking Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003 was much belatedly put forward by the Department in December, 2022, the same was turned down by the then Dy. Chief Minister on

27.01.2023.”

He said, “At the outset, I would like to record my surprise at the fact that public funds to the tune of Rs 13,549 crore have not been audited for the past 06 years and have been passed on to private discoms, without any substantive scrutiny as to whether the subsidies meant for the poor are reaching the targeted population

or not.

“It has further surprised me that it has taken the Government 06 years to finally invoke its power u/s 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to issue directions to DERC to conduct special audit, instead of perfunctorily taking Cabinet Decisions to this effect for the last 06 years and conveying it to DERC but to no avail.”

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