“Congratulations Delhiites. A big relief to u. No power tariff hike. I told u it was possible. All becoz of honest politics,” Arvind Kejriwal tweeted. “Congratulations Delhiites. A big relief to u. No power tariff hike. I told u it was possible. All becoz of honest politics,” Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

In a major relief to residents of the capital, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Thursday announced that there will be no change in the existing power tariff for domestic consumers.

The power regulator decided to keep the tariff at the prevailing levels, stating that its own assessment shows “surplus revenue” condition of the discoms.

The decision comes in the background of the AAP-led Delhi government urging the regulator to reduce the tariff or keep it at existing levels, till an audit of the discoms, being conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), is finalised.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the decision and attributed it to “honest politics”.

“Congratulations Delhiites. A big relief to u. No power tariff hike. I told u it was possible. All becoz of honest politics,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Congratulations Delhiites. A big relief to u. No power tariff hike. I told u it was possible. All becoz of honest politics. — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 24, 2015

The DERC said that the decision to keep the tariff at existing levels was taken after considering the views of different stakeholders, including its own assessment of the discoms’ annual revenue requirements for financial year 2015-16.

“As there is surplus revenue for the discoms, which will additionally liquidate the principal amount of the accumulated revenue gap, the commission has decided to retain the tariff for FY 2015-16 at prevailing levels, with minor structural changes, based on the stakeholders’ suggestions,” said DERC chairman P D Sudhakar.

Responding to the commission’s decision, Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain said, “The government had conveyed its view to the DERC that in the wake of the reported findings of the CAG in the media, which have not been disputed by any concerned party so far, the electricity tariffs should be reduced. The government is also of the view that the Regulatory Assets being demanded by the discoms are highly inflated and these should be completely scrapped by the DERC”.

The commission has said that the revenue of the discoms, at the existing tariff, will be Rs 19,561 crore, which would include Rs 445 crore as the surplus amount for the financial year.

It also said that there is a net reduction in the regulatory assets gap, adding that it expects to recover the entire Rs 12,000 crore regulatory assets gap in next four years.

The other reasons attributed for the surplus has been reduction in procuring costly power — where the regulator has disallowed the discoms to purchase costly power from Anta and Auraiya power stations.

“The commission has also undertaken work of physical verification of assets and billing audit, which may lead to further reduction in the revenue gap during the subsequent period,” the DERC said.

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