Delhi citizen groups oppose virtual public hearing for tariff revisions

Resident welfare associations (RWAs), and citizen federations on Tuesday wrote to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), opposing the ongoing virtual public hearing for tariff revisions, claiming that the public consultation process has been reduced to a mere formality.
DERC, a key regulatory commission that oversees the electricity sector of the Capital and fixes the power tariffs, holds public hearings on an annual basis as part of the tariff fixation process. This year, the commission had announced that it will hold the public hearings on October 8 and 9.
However, citizen groups said that the hearings were moved to a virtual platform during the pandemic, but the regulator is still continuing with the online medium, which they claimed reduces a participative process, with more barriers for the resident.
During the DERC public hearing, all three private discoms operating in Delhi file their tariff petitions before the commission, demanding revisions in electricity rates by citing their arguments, while consumers get a chance to provide their feedback on the tariff demands on these platforms.
Opposing holding the meeting virtually, Rajiv Kakria from the Save Our City campaign said they have been participating in these hearings since 2004, but the process has been reduced to a “farce” over the last four years.
“Earlier these hearings were held in the DERC auditorium and were later moved to bigger venues like Siri Fort as participation grew. These virtual hearings are mere formalities and we don’t want to lend credence to their process anymore,” he said.
Kakria said suggestions and objections filed by resident groups are no longer entertained.
“Earlier, our inputs used to make a difference. We have been raising issues related to fixed charges and PPAC for the last four years but they are simply ignored. They should at least give us reasons as to whether the public feedback was considered and why it was rejected,” he said, adding that one of the suggestions provided was that the fixed charges should be based on maximum demand instead of fixed load. “We are boycotting the hearings as a mark of protest,” he added.
BS Vohra, who heads the East Delhi RWA joint front, said RWAs are now losing faith in the process.
“It takes a lot of preparation and time to file counters and objections but in the end, we are just provided 1-2 minutes on an online slot which can be muted at any point. Why are they avoiding face to face interactions? We the RWAs of Delhi have lost interest in their virtual mode hearings, where officials just pretend to listen with fixed outcomes,” he said.
The United Residents of Delhi — a group of RWAs — has also filed a petition to protest against the virtual public hearing. The letter dated October 8 states: “Time and again the commission has deliberately organised the public hearings virtually so that it can be shown that a public hearing was conducted. It is clear that the number of people attending these meetings is nominal.”
Saurabh Gandhi, general secretary of the body, said the commission no longer considers their submissions and therefore the RWAs decided to not participate in the hearing virtually. “RWAs decided not to participate in the process as a mark of protest,” he said.