Delhi LG VK Saxena on Tuesday asked the Chief Secretary to launch a probe into the “irregularities and discrepancies” in the subsidy given by Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) government to power discoms in the national capital. The LG has also sought a report in seven days.
The AAP, however, hit back and stated the order of inquiry is a “conspiracy” to stop the subsidy given to the people of Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi gave power subsidy till September this year. From October 1, it has become optional.
A statement from the office of the LG said that the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) order in February 2018, which directed the Delhi government to pay electricity subsidy to consumers through Direct Benefit Transfer, was never implemented.
The LG Secretariat in the press note said that the LG office received a complaint raising several issues of impropriety and discrepancies in the power subsidy matter.
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“The complainant have alleged that a massive scam was carried out by Jasmine Shah, who is spokesperson, AAP and Vice Chairman, Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC) and Naveen Gupta, who is son of AAP MP, ND Gupta, the Kejriwal government appointed Directors on the Board of Directors of private DISCOMS, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. (BYPL), owned by the Anil Ambani Group. The Delhi government has 49% shares in these private DISCOMS,” the statement reads.
The press note further elaborates that the complaint is given by a cluster of eminent lawyers, jurists and law professionals. “The complainant has alleged that the AAP government in Delhi instead of recovering its outstanding dues of Rs. 21,250 crore on account of default in payment for power purchased by defaulting vendor DISCOMS (BRPL and BYPL) from state owned power generation companies, and debarring it from further business in Delhi, got into a cozy deal with the BRPL and BYPL by way of agreeing to let them settle their outstanding dues against future payments to be made to them by the government in shape of subsidy reimbursements for supposedly free power that they provided to the consumers. This amounted to a sum of Rs 11,550 crore being settled as reimbursements,” the press note states.
गुजरात को “आप” की फ्री बिजली गारंटी खूब पसंद आ रही है। इसलिए बीजेपी दिल्ली में फ्री बिजली रोकना चाहती है
दिल्ली के लोगों, भरोसा रखना।मैं आपकी फ्री बिजली किसी हालत में रुकने नहीं दूँगा
गुजरात के लोगों, आपको विश्वास दिलाता हूँ कि सरकार बनने पर 1 मार्च से आपकी भी बिजली फ्री होगी
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 4, 2022
It also claims the DERC unduly allowed the DISCOMS to charge Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) at a rate of 18 per cent from the people and paying the same at a rate of 12 per cent only to the Delhi government-owned Power Generation Companies thus providing them a gain of Rs. 8,500 crore at the cost of the state exchequer.
However, Delhi CM Kejriwal firmly rebutted these allegations. “Gujarat has taken to the free electricity guarantee of AAP. That’s why the BJP wants to stop free electricity in Delhi. I will not let the people of Delhi be deprived of free electricity under any circumstances,” he tweeted.
In his tweet, Kejriwal also said if AAP forms the government in Gujarat, the electricity will be free in the state from March 1. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj also alleged that this is a conspiracy by the LG to stop the subsidy in Delhi.
At least 30 lakh people get zero electricity bill in Delhi and 15-17 lakh have to pay 50 per cent of their bills.