Power Hike Rollback
‘Govt should deposit subsidy in advance’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 8
A petition was filed with the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) today urging that the total quantum of subsidy resulting from the rollback of the recent power hike should be deposited upfront by the government before it was allowed.

The petition, filed by former Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) engineer Gurnek Singh Brar, also demanded that the PSEB should be directed not to implement the tariff rollback on its own without taking the permission of the PSERC even if the government issued a directive in this regard.

It said the PSERC had upheld this principle once earlier when it fined the PSEB for bypassing the regulatory commission and issuing a circular for a refund of rolled-back tariff. The petitioner claimed that since the rollback was an amendment to the tariff order of September last year appropriate public hearings should be conducted before it is given the go-ahead.

The petition also claimed that the state government was continuously defaulting in the payment of subsidy to the PSEB on account of free power given to the agricultural sector as well as below the poverty line (BPL) families.

Giving details it said the government had defaulted in the paying of subsidy to the PSEB since September last year. It said as per the figures obtained from the PSEB under the RTI Act it was revealed that the government had defaulted on the payment of Rs 1,038 crore.

The petition said the default was not limited to the quantum of subsidy only. It said defaults had occurred as far as advance payments were concerned. It said despite allowing concessions to the government and allowing it to pay subsidy in advance monthly instalments instead of advance quarterly instalments, the government had defaulted in paying monthly instalments for November and December last year as well as January this year.

Gurnek Brar noted in his petition that the government was not to be allowed to adjust subsidy towards the payment of principal loans which it claimed was made clear in the order of the regulatory commission passed in September 2007. It said despite this on a previous occasion the state government adjusted Rs 1,362 crore subsidies against government loan.

The petition noted that in view of the government’s track record on the issue of payment of subsidies to the board, it should be directed to give an affidavit that the subsidy amount for 2009-10 pertaining to the rollback of tariff hike would be paid in cash and not adjusted against government loan. It said the government should be asked to deposit the total amount of subsidy in advance before the rollback was allowed. It said since the advance monthly schedule was allowed only for the agricultural sector and BPL subsidy, the same schedule should not be applicable in the case of the subsidy on account of rollback.