07 September,2016 08:39 AM IST | | Dharmendra Jore
Energy minister says tariff petitions of last 10 years will be audited but did not commit if it would bank on CAG for it
Power tariff is a raging issue ahead of the civic polls because unlike rest of Maharashtra, the city and suburban consumers don't pay uniform tariff
With the BMC polls approaching fast, the BJP-led state government is trying its best, to indicate that it cares for the city's 45 lakh power consumers though it is still undecided on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) audit of private power companies.
Undeterred by legal hassles that it may face in future, the government said on Tuesday that it would not spare erring private suppliers, Reliance and Tata, and get their accounts audited to verify false claims, if any, in their tariff petitions of the past 10 years.
However, Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who had made an announcement in the assembly in July this year that the CAG will audit companies, did not confirm the CAG audit on Tuesday.
"What I can say is that it will be a government audit. We may even think of the CAG," he said.
"If they oppose us in the court then we will fight our case, but we will not backtrack from the decision," he said, when told that attempts to audit Delhi utilities by the CAG were stalled by the Supreme Court, adding that the Law and Judiciary Department was studying a proposal to audit the companies.
Inflated costs
The minister said private power distributors of the city were inflating expenditure while seeking a tariff hike from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).
"We will audit tariff petitions that were filed by these companies in the past 10 years. The government has the right to know this because the consumers want this information," he said.
Two other companies, BEST (a civic undertaking) and Mahavitaran, a state-government utility, get their accounts audited by government agencies.
Sources said that the government was well aware of legal hassles it would face in commissioning the CAG because Reliance has consistently rejected a similar move in its Metro1 project where tariff is a bone of contention. A senior official said that the matter would most probably be fought in the courts.
Stalling uniform tariff
Bawankule said barring Reliance, all other city companies had agreed to have uniform tariff for monthly consumption up to 100 units. "Reliance has rejected the proposal because of extra expenses of Rs 150 core per year. Reliance wants compensation for spending more than other companies. I have asked Reliance to cut cost to help consumers, but the company has not responded as yet," he said.
The minister said he would initiate further action once MERC determines tariff for this year. "The government will use its special powers, vested with it under the Electricity Act-2003, to correct the tariff," he said.
Power tariff is a raging issue ahead of the civic polls because unlike rest of Maharashtra (including consumers of Mahavitaran beyond Kanjur Marg) the city and suburban consumers don't pay uniform tariff. The average power rate in Mumbai is much higher than other metros.
