Unscheduled power cuts: Delhi Discoms want better mechanism for reasons behind outages

Uncertainty looms large on the fate of power distribution companies (Discoms) in Delhi as the State government is yet to propose legal changes in the provision that requires them to compensate consumers for unscheduled power cuts in the national capital.

The Discoms had expressed reservations to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission on the grounds that they are being held accountable for outages that are beyond their control. And subsequently, made the same appeal to the Delhi High Court.

“Outages due to failure in the grid, transmission network and the consumer’s own installation are beyond the control of the Discoms. But under the present legislation, the onus of compensation lies solely on the Discom,” an official at a private Discom in Delhi told BusinessLine .

“The latest order on compensation for outages has been stayed by the Delhi High Court about a month ago, but the same has not been followed with a legislative change, leaving the Discoms on tenterhooks,” the official said.

Tata Power-Delhi Distribution Ltd (TP-DDL) had challenged it on the pretext that the due process of law was not followed. “The issue of suo-moto compensation is against the basic tenets of law. You can’t penalise anybody without trial,” the official added.

In December, Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party tweeted that Delhi has become the first State in the country where consumers will be compensated by Discoms in case of unscheduled power cuts. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had fixed a compensation of ₹50 for the first two hours of cuts and ₹100 for every subsequent hour. The compensation amount was to be adjusted against current or future bills. But till date no compensation has been given by the Discoms.

“The Discoms want a better mechanism for determination of the reason for the outages — whether the outage is on account of distribution, transmission or generation failure or consumer’s own installation failure has to be determined first,” the official said.

“It will be difficult to implement the said order pertaining to the compensation for power outages as there may be multiple situations and conditions under which the compensation could be claimed without the fault of a Discom. Considering the intricacies involved, the Delhi High Court has given the stay on the order and advised to practice the old guidelines of the DERC pertaining to unscheduled power cuts,” another power distribution company spokesperson said.

“Who will determine whether the prescribed timelines have been exceeded or not in borderline cases and cases where consumers do not want to seek compensation. This is particularly so with regard to power supply related complaints where frivolous complaints cannot be ruled out,” he added.

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