As many as 58 persons have applied for the post of the Delhi Electricity Regulation Commission chairman and 93 others have applied to become a DERC member. The DERC chairman’s post will fall vacant after incumbent P.D. Sudhakar demits office by the end of January. Among applicants for the post are sitting judges of the high court and about half-a-dozen secretaries of the Union government.
The AAP government has appointed Justice S.N. Aggarwal (Retd.) as the chairman of a committee that will screen candidates. Justice Aggarwal is also heading the AAP-appointed commission of inquiry to probe the CNG fitness scam. The post of DERC chairman is the most sought after job as the commission is the only competent authority to decide power tariff for the city. The biggest challenge before the new DERC chairman would be realise regulatory assets of Rs 8,000 crore from consumers. The DERC reportedly wants to recover this money over a period of eight years, but the discoms want it recovered in only three years.
A source said that hunt was on to select the new DERC chairman and also one of its members. “At least 58 persons, including three sitting judges of high courts , have applied for the post of chairman and 93 others have applied to become its member. Any person having a graduation degree can apply for these posts.” The Delhi government had advertised these posts on November 25. After that, the government had constituted a three-member committee headed by Justice Aggarwal to screen the candidates. Delhi chief secretary K.K. Sharma and a member of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission had been appointed as other members of the screening committee. The secretary (power) is the member secretary of the screening committee. The source said that a list of two members is to be provided by the screening committee in the order of preference for the post of chairman and member of the DERC. As per the provision of 85 (4) of Delhi Electricity Act 2003, the selection panel has to ascertain that the selected person has no financial interest.
A officer said that the discoms lobby hard to get the DERC chairman of their choice so that they have a direct say in deciding power tariff. Mr Sudhakar had joined as the DERC chairman in April 2011.
