A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General has indicted the three private power distribution companies in Delhi for inflating their dues to be recovered from consumers by almost Rs 8,000 crore, says a Times of India report.

The three power companies in the dock are BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) controlled by Anil Ambani’s Reliance group, and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL).

The CAG report also stated that there was scope for reducing tariffs in the city.

The report accused the power companies of manipulating ‘consumer figures and scrap sale details,’ by taking actions detrimental to consumer interests. However, the most damning revelation relates to inflation of regulatory assets (RA).

The report said, “The RA of three discoms which stood approved as on March 31, 2013, were Rs 13,657.87 crore. However, audit findings contained in various chapters of this report indicate that the RA of the three discoms were inflated by at least Rs 7,956.91 crore.”

The CAG audit on Delhi’s power discoms has also posed some serious question on their way of functioning, uetter lack of transparency and instances of conflict of interests.

In the dock are two Anil Ambani group controlled discoms, BRPL and BYPL, who according to the report, acquired material and services worth Rs 1,428 crore from their sister company Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) but without the approval of the board of directors of the two discoms.

The CAG report said that in one case the REL itself conducted the tendering process, became a bidder before declaring itself the winner, thereby leading to serious question of conflict of interest.

The report said, “Audit found that this whole process of centralized procurement by REL violated the basic norms of procurement and involved serious conflict of interest, and lead to procurements at inflated prices. Participation of M/s REL as a bidder in a tendering process which was conducted and evaluated by itself created a serious conflict of interest and compromised the objectivity of the whole selection process.”

Another charge against the Anil Ambani owned discoms is how they demonstrated the inflated costs in acquiring meters even though the meter acquired from China was at a significantly lower price.

Meters procured by REL from Kaifa Technology Ltd, China in March 2004 was at Rs 699 per meter, but the BRPL stated the cost of procurement of the same meters from the REL in 2005 at the rate of Rs 1080 per meter. BRPL had purchased 6.43 lakh of these meters.

Another shocking revelation is made involving Tata group’s TPDDL, which, the report says, paid at least Rs 93.50 crore to its own power generation plant in Rithala as fixed charges without supplying any power since March 2013. This payment has been continuing till date.