Delhi government attacks BSES-run discoms, calls Ambani for meeting

Delhi government today attacked BSES-run discoms owned by Anil Ambani-headed Reliance ADAG over alleged corruption, their “atrocious” performance and the “unprecedented” power outages across the national capital.

In a letter to Ambani, Delhi Power Minister Satyender Jain asked him to come down to the city next week for a meeting, alleging that the discoms that supply power to nearly 70 per cent of the city have started “fudging” data to show improvement following stern warnings from the government.

BSES entities BRPL (BSES Rajdhani Power Limited) and BYPL (BSES Yamuna Power Limited) supply electricity to around 12 lakh and 16 lakh customers respectively. The city’s power sector was privatised in 2002.

“Performances of BSES so far have been atrocious. The expectation was that you will bring down tariffs and install a world class power system in the capital city of Delhi, which would compare better than power system in any other capital in the world. However, you have failed to do so,” wrote Jain.

He added, “There are also allegations of corruption and financial irregularities including siphoning off funds by your companies. Some of the allegations have been corroborated in CAG’s draft report and in earlier DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission) orders.”

He said despite repeated meetings and warnings to senior officials of BSES, the power situation has not improved. “If there are 10 outages, the daily report from your company shows only 7 and deliberately masks out 3.”

Jain warned the AAP government will not be a mute spectator and will not hesitate in taking strong decisions unlike in the past when “you might have had a cosy relationship with previous governments in Delhi at the expense of public interest”.

“You are requested to come immediately for a meeting with the undersigned with a concrete roadmap  on how you plan to improve the situation. I hope to see you sometime early next week,” the letter added.