Discoms may take legal route against DERC order

Discoms might take the legal route to challenge DERC´s order to make them pay damages to consumers for unscheduled outages. DERC came out with the final notification on the penalty clause on Monday.´Once the notification comes out in the gazette, it would become effective. This should happen in the next few days,´ said a source.
Discoms, however, said they hadn´t received any official word from DERC or the government on the penalty clause.´In any case, Section 108 of the Electricity Act can only be invoked with the approval of the LG. The government cannot bypass the LG office in giving policy directions to DERC,´ said a discom official.
Discoms accused the Delhi government of influencing DERC in announcing the penalty scheme and said there were a number of practical difficulties in its implementation.