Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva announced protest demonstrations by party workers power on Monday at power discom offices in all 14 districts against the imposition of a power purchase adjustment charge (PPAC).

Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government for the hike in electricity rates for domestic consumers in the national capital, Sachdeva said the decision to increase the power tariff proved a double whammy for the people of Delhi. On one hand, they are grappling with the extremely humid monsoon weather while on the other; they are forced to pay up hefty electricity bills.

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At a press conference on Sunday, Sachdeva released a copy of the letter he wrote to Chairman of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission Justice Jayant Nath seeking his intervention on the issue of hefty PPAC, Pension Surcharge, Meter Charges, Load Surcharge, etc. all of which put enormous burden on the consumers.

“The electricity bills are too hefty to bear not because of summer consumption but due to the imposition of an exorbitant PPAC and other charges,” he said.

Sachdeva said since April-May, there has been a public outcry against the bill amounts prompting a BJP team to study it in tandem with some power charges.

“The combined study has revealed that PPAC, included in the electricity bills, has become a cause of concern for the consumers, especially those from the lower and upper middle class,” he said.

“Letter to the DERC chairman says the present electricity tariff is sufficient to keep power Discoms in profit if they do their business planning properly,” the Delhi BJP president contended.

“Unfortunately, the discoms do not plan to meet the excessive summer or humid weather demand or the demand of deep winters. The result of this is that Delhi suddenly faces a power supply crisis around mid-April and then the Delhi government & the power discoms wake up to buy extra power needed from the power grids or surplus states which obviously comes at a premium,” he said.

He pointed out that 1.5% PPAC was first levied from the consumers in Delhi in 2011 illegally by the then Congress government. “The PPAC was withdrawn in 2014 after a BJP-led delegation met the then Power Minister Piyush Goel who made the Power Discoms withdraw it. The charges were not imposed on the consumers between August 2014 and September 2015, Sachdeva said.

“The letter says in 2015 when the Arvind Kejriwal Government came to power in Delhi, it supported the power discoms’ demand for re-imposition of PPAC & Pension Surcharge,” the Delhi BJP President said.

“Soon PPAC became legal with the Delhi government not filing any objection with the DERC on the PPAC, a component in the approved Business Regulatory Plan for Discoms. Since 2015, every winter and summer the PPAC is raised for the concerned quarter of the year and is never withdrawn after the end of the quarter,” he said.

“Slowly but steadily the quarterly PPAC kept accumulating and the PPAC, which was 1.5 per cent in 2015, rose to almost 37.5 per cent while an additional 8.75 per cent more is likely to be imposed soon as announced by the BSES Rajdhani in its letter to the DERC secretary dated 25th April 2024,” the Delhi BJP President said.

Sachdeva said the PPAC was never a part of the approved Business Regulatory Plan for Power Discoms till 2015 but today, “It is part of big kickbacks, thanks to the connivance of the Arvind Kejriwal Government with the power discoms. We demand a judicial inquiry into the matter.”

The Delhi BJP president urged the D.E.R.C. chairman to order an inquiry into imposition of the increased PPAC, Pension Surcharge, Meter Rent, Load Surcharge etc despite the fact that power discoms are in profit at prevailing per unit charges itself.

Delhi BJP Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor, who coordinated the press conference, said, “Power Discoms and the Delhi government share a mutual relationship to loot the common man and share kickbacks”.

Talking to a news agency, Sachdeva said, “The Delhi government is looting the people of Delhi. The common man is grappling with the hike in electricity bills. Every person, who pays the electricity bill honestly, is being looted.”

He said in February this year, the Delhi government revised the PPAC by the discoms leading to a 6 to 8 per cent rise in the electricity bills of domestic consumers.

Sachdeva alleged money is being collected illegally in the name of PPAC surcharges and pension surcharges and “the Delhi government and power companies are enjoying this money”.

“Tomorrow, we will protest at 14 electricity offices until the PPAC and pension surcharge are withdrawn. We have written to the chairman of the DERC and demanded an inquiry into how the Delhi government and power companies are doing a scam,” he said.