Discoms’ outstanding dues to gencos rise 4.4 per cent to Rs 1,21,030 cr in January – EQ Mag Pro
New Delhi : Total outstanding dues owed by electricity distribution companies (discoms) to power producers rose 4.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,21,030 crore in January 2022.
Discoms owed a total of Rs 1,15,904 crore to power generation firms in January 2021, according to portal PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators).
On a sequential basis also, total dues in January increased from Rs 1,15,462 crore in December 2021.
The PRAAPTI portal was launched in May 2018 to bring in transparency in power purchase transactions between generators and discoms.
In January 2022, the total overdue amount, which was not cleared even after 45 days of grace period offered by generators, stood at Rs 1,01,357 crore as against Rs 99,650 crore in the same month a year ago. The overdue amount stood at Rs 99,981 crore in December 2021.
Power producers give 45 days to discoms to pay bills for electricity supply. After that, outstanding dues become overdue and generators charge penal interest on that in most cases.
To give relief to power generation companies (gencos), the Centre enforced a payment security mechanism from August 1, 2019. Under this mechanism, discoms are required to open letters of credit for getting power supply.
Source : PTI
