Lawyers want domestic power rates

The Delhi government has asked the city power regulator to consider charging domestic rates for lawyers' chambers in courts across the national capital.

The move came after multiple representations were made by lawyers in courts requesting the office of Power Minister Satyendar Jain that they be charged domestic tariff rates for electricity.

"It is, therefore, requested to kindly consider the request of lawyers and take further necessary action," said Deputy Secretary (Power) Chandan Sengupta in a letter to Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) Secretary.

If the move gets an approval, DERC, an autonomous body, may also come under the Delhi government's subsidy scheme as it is only for domestic power consumers and not for commercial connections.

Under the Delhi government's scheme, those consuming up to 400 units get 50 per cent subsidy on their bills. The scheme benefits around 36 lakh or 90 per cent of the consumers in the national capital.

Meanwhile, the DERC had held a public hearing on Wednesday where it witnessed a number of people demanding cheaper rates for power. The meeting had been held to discuss tariff revision of the power slots.

Senior DERC officials claimed members of the public had asked them to avoid big production companies, as they provided power at very high rates. However, DERC officials argued big production companies could best cope with the high power demands of the Capital.