Power punch: Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Corporation stops all payments to consultant

LUCKNOWTOIUttarUPERCOn Tuesday, director (tariff), Amit Bhargava, wrote a letter to UPERC secretary Arun Kumar Srivastava, suggesting that the payment of Rs 4.5 lakh due to the consultant be stopped “until the controversy is cleared”. The secretary, in turn, forwarded it to the two commission members, who are supposed to take a final decision. At the same time, the UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhogta Parishad, which had filed a review petition, sought to get the firm blacklisted. The parishad also demanded a relook at the power tariff increase. “Stopping of the payment clearly suggests that the commission had a malafide intention in appointing the consultant. The tariff should also be rolled back,” president of the parishad, Avadhesh Verma, told TOI.A senior UPERC official said the consultant was appointed in May by a committee comprising the power regulator’s directors. It was based on their decision that the commission members gave their nod to the appointment of the consultant, Bhushan Rastogi and Associates. Rastogi, a chartered accountant by profession, was also working on behalf of Mohit Goyal, vice-president, operations, Percept 360 Degrees Consulting Ltd, the consultant that framed the power tariff at UPPCL.TOI on Tuesday had front-paged a report on how Rastogi, the key man behind the power tariff hike, had stakes in both the consulting firms. UPPCL, on the other hand, has been insisting that the tariff was declared by the UPERC suo moto and it hardly mattered who the consultant was. UPPCL had paid a fee of Rs 8 lakh to Percept 360 Degrees for drafting the tariff. A senior UPERC official admitted that it was the committee of directors which forwarded its recommendation of selecting the consultant to the commission members. This was despite the terms of reference issued by UPERC on May 8 banning any company which was associated with the power utility while determining the tariff.The raging controversy comes to the fore less than a week after UPERC revised power tariff in various categories, raising the rates by 20 to 30%. The development saw statewide protests by almost all opposition parties, which demanded a rollback of the tariff hike.