Warning of a cut in power supplies in the National Capital, state-owned NTPC said Reliance Group owned distribution companies here have a history of payment defaults and their electricity supply would be curtailed if they fail to pay their dues by Monday.
After issuing notices to BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna on Saturday, NTPC said that it is in trouble and unless its dues are cleared the company may have to stop power supply to these discoms.
“We are in a difficult situation. If we are not paid in time, we will have to regulate nearly 2,000 MW of power, we have (other) buyers for it,” Chairman and Managing Director, NTPC, Arup Roy Choudhury said.
When asked for comments, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said: “This issue is between DERC (Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission), the discoms in Delhi and the state government, it is not for Power Ministry to comment but what we certainly do hope is that the dues rightfully in the case of NTPC should be paid as soon as possible.”
Choudhury said the companies have a history of payment issues.
He said, “This is not the first notice on BSES. They have been constantly defaulting in their payment security mechanism and this time it is the outstanding dues also.”
However, the company added that there are no payment issues with Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited, another discom which supplies electricity in the National Capital.
“Tata Power has been paying their bills in time; we never had a problem with them. With BSES this is the third time we are facing problems,” Choudhury added.
“We do not have TPA (Third Party Protection Audit) with the Delhi government like other governments. The discoms (in other states) are saved by state governments through the TPAs, under which we get payment from the states under the state allocation,” he said.
