The plea was listed for hearing before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar which sought the responses of the Centre, AAP government, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) and the three power distribution companies (discoms) here by January 18.
The public interest litigation has sought quashing of the tariff orders issued by DERC since 2011 to the extent that they permit collection of a contribution from consumers towards the pension fund.
The plea by one Sudhanshu M Kumar alleges that of the Rs 694 crore, Rs 270.33 crore has already been recovered by making it part of the discoms' Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) which is then set of against the revenue received from the consumers.
It has claimed that including the pension trust fund contribution in the ARR was illegal.
More From This Section
The petition has said that the remaining Rs 423.67 crore is proposed to be recovered by levying a surcharge of 3.7 per cent on the consumers from September this year to March 2018.
The plea also claims that the contribution was supposed to be a temporary feature, but over the years it has become a permanent annual feature.
It has contended that the tariff orders issued by DERC since 2011 were arbitrary and without jurisdiction.
The plea has also sought refund of Rs 3,020 crore allegedly collected since 2011 from consumers for this fund or to adjust the amount in the future bills.
It has also sought a stay on the levy of 3.7 per cent surcharge as ordered by DERC.