BSES chief told to make way for 2 new CEOs, to serve as director
Express News Service, Oct 16, 2009
Friday
New Delhi:

After months of allegations about unprecedented loadshedding and mismanagement of bills, the BSES finally took the government’s advice to “put its house in order.”

BSES Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arun Kanchan has been directed by Chairman Lalit Jalan to make way for two new CEOs — one each for BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna Power Limited. Kanchan has been promoted to the post of a director . Chief Operating Officer Gopal Saxena has been appointed CEO of BSES Rajdhani, and Ramesh Narayan, a vice president, has been appointed CEO of BSES Yamuna.

Denying speculation that Kanchan was asked to give up his position after the furore in the BSES over nearly 60,000 consumers receiving unusually high bills in August, the BSES in a statement on Thursday, said: “In a bid to further strengthen and upgrade the management bandwidth, BSES decided to reward its three seniormost officers by promoting them with added responsibility.”

Sources, however, confirmed that Kanchan’s role will be greatly curtailed. “He will be a director, but will not play a very significant role in the day-to-day management,” a senior official said.

The move comes after a showcause notice was served to the BSES discoms by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission. “BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna are two entities. They were given licences as two different distribution companies and therefore should have had two CEOs all along,” the official added.

The Delhi government too issued orders to this effect. In a letter by Power Secretary Rajendra Kumar to the BSES on August 17, 2009, it was conveyed to the discom that one CEO for both companies was “not appropriate as at times the interests of both companies may clash and it will be difficult for one person to take an appropriate neutral decision.”