AAP accuses Mahagenco, Rel Infra of power tariff fraud

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After slashing electricity tariff in Delhi by 50 percent for households consuming up to 400 units of power per month, the Aam Aadmi Party has now shifted its focus to Maharashtra's power scene.

The party said Maharshtra has the potential to cut tariffs by 50 percent too. Infact, AAP accused politicians, corporate houses and bureaucrats of forming a nexus and inflating the bills and burdening the common man.

Also Read: Delhi HC seeks clarity on AAP electricity bill waiver

AAP said over the last three years, the state power company and politicians in the state had made consumers to pay excess tariff to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore. AAP activist Satish Jain accused Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (Mahagenco) directly of purporting the scam. According to AAP, the state power generation company has been buying less that the allocated subsidised coal from Coal India and producing much less power than its capacity. It also accused Mahagenco of deliberately importing costly coal and passing on the additional cost to consumers.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Jain also said that Mahegenco incurred an additional cost of Rs 5,700 crore by buying coal from abroad. He also said that the state power generation company had spent Rs 10,000 crore in the last five years as capital expenditure, but instead of power generation going up it went down in the state.

AAP also accused Reliance Infrastructure of purchasing power at higher rates ranging from Rs 6-12 per unit and passing on the burden to consumers.

Both Mahagenco and RInfra refuted the charges.

"In the last few years, there has been shortage of coal due to high demand across the country and Mahagenco had to import it. However, this was done to safeguard consumer interests. We issued global tenders and the entire process was transparent," the state-owned MahaGenco said in a press release.

Additionally state power companies like Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) and Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MahaGenCo) are already audited by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

According to the Hindustan Times report, RInfra has said that the average cost of power purchases by the company in Mumbai is the lowest at Rs 4.16 per unit, and not over Rs 6 per unit as alleged by AAP.

Pramod Deo, former Chairperson of CERC said these allegations basically mean that there is lack of faith in the Electricity Act and the regulator. However he makes it clear that he is not defending the regulators and saying that they are doing their jobs well. "There is always scope for improvement," he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

According to him, these allegations also mean that an outsider should be brought in, who in turn may not be a competent authority in giving judgement.

(Posted by Devika Ghosh)