The BJP got scared of public backlash and agitation called by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is the why the DERC rolled back the hike in electricity tariff, the party claimed today.
Senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav alleged that the announcement of the roll back also proves that the agency is not an independent one as it claims and the pretext given to rolling back the tariff also raises questions about its credibility.
"The BJP knows it cannot increase the tariff directly, but it tried doing so by a back door process. After the fare hike decision, we had decided to undertake an agitation. The BJP got scared of this which resulted in roll back of prices. We congratulate the people of Delhi for this," Yadav told a news conference here.
He also alleged that the DERC was not an autonomous body and functioned as per the whims and fancies of the BJP and the power discoms.
"This is a warning to the BJP and the DERC which is running the agenda of the power discoms," he said.
DERC said the hike was rolled back "realising" that a number of power generation companies including NTPC, which supply electricity to the city, provided only part information about price of fuel such as coal and gas.
Yadav said the pretext given by DERC to roll back prices "reflected its credibility."
The party batted for transparency in the power sector and said that it has been interacting with experts from the sector which will be a part of the Delhi Dialogue- an initiative undertaken by the party to know citizens plans on how should Delhi be.
"We will cut the electricity tariff by half if we come to power," AAP's Delhi unit convenor Ashutosh said.
The DERC last night had announced re-introduction of the power purchase adjustment cost (PPAC) surcharge to effect an increase of tariff by up to seven per cent from Saturday.
BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party had slammed DERC for raising the tariff, demanding an immediate roll back, but DERC today claimed that the decision to withdraw the hike was not due to criticism from the parties.
