Delhi LG Initiates Power Company Audit Over Pension Surcharge Concerns

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved a special audit of power companies. The audit aims to scrutinize the pension surcharge levied on consumers' electricity tariffs. It will focus on funds collected from 2017-18 to 2023-24. The goal is to ensure proper utilization for retired employees' pensions.

In a move to ensure transparency, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved a special audit of power companies, focusing on the pension surcharge added to consumer electricity bills, according to an official statement from the Raj Niwas.

The audit will examine the collection and allocation of pension surcharge funds by discoms from the fiscal years 2017-18 to 2023-24, utilizing CAG-empanelled auditors. This step comes after discrepancies exceeding Rs 1,100 crore were noted between the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission's (DERC) allocations and the amounts collected by discoms.

The audit seeks to ensure that funds collected as pension surcharge are properly funneled into the Pension Trust, securing the retirement benefits for former employees of the Delhi Vidyut Board, as delineated under the Transfer Scheme Rules and reinforced by a Supreme Court ruling in 2010.