File photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Associated Press photo)
Just as Arvind Kejriwal had alleged, power distribution firms in Delhi have been fleecing customers by inflating costs, partly to make up for their own inefficiencies, the state auditor has found.
The draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG indicts all three major discoms or distribution companies for over-charging customers, partly to recover the costs of their own operating inefficiencies. The report covers the years between 2002 and 2013.
Billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure runs two electricity distribution companies in the national capital in a joint venture with the Delhi government. The third is run by the Tata Group.
"If whatever has come out is true, then it will be a very big thing. The scam of Rs 8,000 crore has surfaced. Delhiites will be benefited as tariff will have to be brought down. We have received a draft report and we are studying it. Let the final report come," Mr Kejriwal said.
Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party ordered an audit of power firms when it was first elected in 2013, a 49-day term that ended in chaos. The power companies challenged the audit in the High Court. Then, Mr Kejrwal won a giant second term this year. He has slashed power rates by half; in response to critics who said the government could not afford subsidies, Mr Kejriwal said that consumers were being robbed, and that scrutiny of their records would expose huge profiteering. So far, the distribution companies have argued that they are forced to sell power in Delhi at such low rates that they encounter massive losses.
The auditor's report firmly disproves that, finding that the power firms showed many more.
The BSES, which runs two power distribution companies, has denied the allegations. "Shocked at irresponsible, factually incorrect and distorted reporting on CAG report... Media reports tantamount to blatant contempt of Delhi High Court order," a BSES Spokesperson told NDTV.