Andhra Pradesh Public Accounts Committee Chairman Payyavula Keshav, at a press conference, has disclosed a letter written by the A.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) to the State Chief Secretary, Electricity Distribution Companies (Discoms) in which it has asked the State government to immediately release the ₹15,474 crore subsidy dues.
Mr. Keshav said that he had met the APERC Chairman C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy and other members on November 9 and apprised them of the difficulties being faced by the Discoms due to the subsidy amount that was due to them the State government and bill amounts due from the local bodies.
The APERC in the letter suggested giving a 14-day notice to the local bodies and other offices to get their dues released or face disconnection of the power connection. It also apprised the government about the ₹9,783 crore due from government institutions as power bills and pointed out that the very existence of the Discoms was being put in danger due to the non-payment of bill and subsidy amounts.
He asked the YSRCP government to immediately release the dues and not transfer them to the common man in the form of ‘True Up’ charges. The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission had permitted the DISCOMs two months ago to recover the ‘true-up’ charges amounting to ₹3,669 crore by taking into account their financial distress.
