DPSC offers VRS

Power utility DPSC Ltd, (formerly Dishergarh Power Corporation Ltd) has firmed up a voluntary retirement scheme to rightsize its manpower which stands at 1,200.

According to highly placed officials in the company, the management has already submitted its VRS proposal that was passed by the Board of Directors to the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) for approval.

"We require the Commission's approval because we have requested an additional Rs 8.5 crore of tariff collection from consumers "" the estimated cost of the scheme. The scheme is also part of the company's effort to wipe off its entire Rs 10 crore of accumulated losses by 2006," explained a top official from the company.

"The scheme will be floated as soon as the tariff proposal is passed by the Commission which is expected in another couple of month," the official said.

DSPL, which had sometime back submitted its tariff proposal to WBERC for 2004-05 had requested the Commission to allow it to charge Rs 3.44 per unit which also included 10 paise as the cost component for the VRS.

DPSC's average cost of purchased power from Damodar Valley Corporation was around Rs 2.90 while it, at present, is able to realise Rs 3.13 from its customers although it had requested for a Rs 3.32 per unit tariff.

"A high salary bill along with depreciation was one of the major reasons for DPSC going into the red. If WBERC allows us the tariff hike we would be able to wipe off our entire accumulated losses in the next three years," the official explained.

DPSC has designed its VRS exactly in line with the scheme floated by the private sector power utility CESC Ltd sometime back. According to officials, the scheme to be floated will have three options.

The options are, either 45 days of service for every year of service rendered, or wages for the balance period of service left or a lump sum of Rs 5 lakh to be paid in three annual installments.

Employees will however be paid the lowest of the three alternatives and its consumers will have to cough up the amount through their electricity bill by paying an additional of 10 paise per unit.

According to estimates, each employee opting for the scheme will on an average be receiving Rs 5 lakh along with his other dues. The company is expecting an outgo of some 10 per cent of employees through the scheme and there are 200 officers along with 1000 staff in its payroll.

It had in fact floated a VRS sometime back in line with recommendations made by the department of heavy industries for officers "" which received a pathetic response with only 12 officers opting and 6 being released. This prompted the company to adopt the CESC package.