According to an official order, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has allowed a special audit of Delhi’s power distribution corporations to examine the ‘pension surcharge’ put on consumer electricity tariffs.
The action intends to promote openness and accountability in the collecting and utilization of this money by power discoms, which now impose a 7% pension surcharge on Delhi residents’ monthly electricity bills. The special audit aims to assess whether funds received as pension surcharges are properly deposited into the Pension Trust for the benefit of retired Delhi Vidyut Board employees.
This initiative was prompted by a disparity of more than Rs 1,100 crore between the amounts given by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and the statistics provided by discoms over the previous seven years, according to official sources. They claimed that the Pension Trust received Rs 1,520 crore from discoms in the fiscal year 2022-23, which fell short of the Rs 1,930 crore required.
The Lieutenant Governor’s directive to conduct the audit is framed within the scope of Section 108 of the Electricity Act of 2003, emphasizing its significance in protecting the public interest.
This evaluation will be conducted by external auditors appointed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), with a focus on three major discoms: BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL), and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), spanning financial years 2017-18 to 2023-24, according to the order.
The Delhi Vidyut Board Employees’ Pension Trust was founded under the Transfer Scheme Rules, 2001, in compliance with the Delhi Electricity Reforms Act, 2000, by a tripartite agreement between the According to a 2010 Supreme Court order, successor utilities like as discoms and Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) are responsible for managing DVB employees’ and pensioners’ liabilities.