Tata Power-DDL, which distributes electricity to a populace of 7 million people in North Delhi is following up for the payment of ₹7 crores dues pertaining to maintenance of 50000 street lights installed in unauthorized areas in its licensed area with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation(DSIIDC).
Over the past one year, the company has written several letters to the both the entities requesting them for the immediate release of payment but to no avail.
Tata Power-DDL is continuously maintaining these street lights, without the payment of dues, in order to avoid inconvenience and to ensure safety and security of the general public.
It is noteworthy here that, the maintenance of streetlights in unauthorized areas costs the company ₹ 68 lakhs per month and the non-payment of dues has resulted into ₹ 7 crore arrears on the part of NDMC and DSIIDC. Time and again, both NDMC and DSIIDC have denied the ownership of these street lights resulting in accumulation of huge arrears. The company has also written to the Chief Secretary Delhi Government for his intervention, early resolution and immediate release of the payment.
Mr. Sanjay Banga, CEO, Tata Power-DDL said, ‘TATA Power-DDL always strives to give the best of services to its customers but in this case non-payment of dues is severely hampering the regular maintenance of the streetlights and in such a scenario, we will not be able to maintain these streetlights any further. I appeal to the Government to resolve the issue by directing both NDMC and DSIIDC to release the payment at the earliest so that the safety and security of our consumers is not compromised with.”