Chandigarh, November 3
The controversy surrounding the grant of a 25-year parallel electricity distribution licence to private firm Eleven Power for Haryana’s Gurugram and Nuh districts has now reached the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) in New Delhi.
The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) had granted the parallel electricity distribution licence to the company on October 19. However, the Commission subsequently stayed its own order on October 28 following widespread opposition and intervention by the state government.
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) have filed separate caveats before APTEL, apprehending that Eleven Power may challenge the October 28 order. The caveats seek to ensure that no ex-parte order is passed by the Tribunal without hearing all concerned parties.
Meanwhile, former Haryana Finance Minister Sampat Singh has also challenged the original October 19 order granting the licence. He maintained that the government’s intervention was only a temporary measure and questioned its legal validity. According to him, directives issued by the government under Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003, should be based on a formal decision of the Council of Ministers.
V.K. Gupta, Media Advisor to AIPEF, said the government itself had acknowledged that the grant of a licence to a private company had triggered widespread concern among consumers, farmers, electricity employees and the general public.
Gupta argued that a private distribution company would primarily focus on supplying power to large and profitable consumers, leading to substantial losses for state-owned power utilities. He warned that the resulting financial burden would ultimately be passed on to ordinary consumers.
Ravindra Ghanghas, spokesperson for the Joint Employees’ Front, said orders had been issued to cancel the private company’s parallel licence. He added that while the licence issue was one of the major concerns, employee unions continued to deliberate on other aspects of power sector privatisation, including the proposed listing of state-owned power corporations on the stock market.
Following a strike by electricity department employees, the Haryana Government, citing public interest, issued written directions to the Commission under Section 108(1) of the Electricity Act, 2003. With the approval of the Chief Minister, the government clarified that no parallel electricity distribution licence should be issued or allowed to remain operational anywhere in the state.
Acting on these directions, HERC has suspended all further proceedings related to the grant of the licence to Eleven Power, effectively putting the process on hold until further orders.
