Despite the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) rejecting the proposal to introduce an amnesty scheme for power theft cases and bill defaulters, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government is in no mood to let down its core vote bank of slum dwellers and unauthorised colony residents.

The government on Tuesday decided to push the proposal once again through discoms, seeking merger of the disputed amount in such cases with the annual tariff revision. However, experts have questioned the move claiming the government can grant subsidies for waiving off penalties instead of charging all of Delhi’s power consumers.

A poll promise of the AAP in the Assembly elections, which originated from the party’s bijli - paani satyagraha in 2013, Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain told The Hindu that the government will suggest that discoms send a proposal to the power regulator once again. “We are determined to fulfil our promise. The discoms are fleecing customers and a system of middlemen has also emerged in the billing system now. People regularly come to me complaining about being charged around Rs.2 lakh for declaring an illegal power connection. Besides, those who have approach manage to get arbitrary discounts on their penalties,” said Mr Jain.

Power theft and illegal power connections are rampant in slum clusters and unauthorised colonies, which are also the key vote bank of the AAP government. Some of these areas include Seelampur, Shahdara, Mahavir Enclave, Najafgarh, Kalyanpuri, Seemapuri, Wazirabad, Burari, Narela, Ambedkar Nagar and Deoli.

Implementing the scheme will mean that penalty costs and pending electricity bills of around Rs.1.5 lakh defaulting people will be borne by over 46 lakh consumers of the Capital. The total disputed costs under the proposed scheme amounts to Rs.450 crore, said an official.

In addition to the regulatory assets or past costs amounting to a whopping Rs.20,000 crore, the three discoms — BSES Rajdhani (BRPL), BSES Yamuna (BYPL) and Tata Power (TPDDL) — have stated an annual revenue requirement of Rs.15,000 crore for 2014-15.

“Discoms have already sought hikes in tariffs ranging from 16 per cent to 20 per cent. Now, if we add another Rs.450 crore, it will only burden consumers, majority of whom get power through proper metered connections. The government can make a provision in its Budget to grant subsidies for the same,” said an expert.

The DERC confirmed that granting subsidies could be an alternative for implementing the scheme. However, sources said the government has its reservations on the issue owing to legal hurdles.

“In February 2014, the High Court had suspended an order of the then AAP government to give 50 per cent waiver on pending electricity bills of 24,036 consumers, who were involved in the party’s satyagraha,” said an official.

Power experts have said the government can grant subsidies for waiving off penalties instead of charging all of Delhi’s power consumers