Delhi: Former IAS Subhash Das appointed new DERC chairman

Delhi: Former IAS officer Subhash Chandra Lal Das has been appointed as the chairman of Delhi’s power regulator DERC, a notification issued on Wednesday said.

Ajay Kumar Jain, a retired district judge, has been appointed as member (legal) and Praveen Gupta, member (thermal) of Central Electricity Authority, has been appointed as member (non-legal) of the DERC, separate notifications said.

The post of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) chairman was lying vacant for more than a year. In a clean break from the past tradition, a retired IAS officer, instead of any retired high court judge, has been given charge of the DERC, officials said.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 45D of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023 readwith Section 84(1) of the Electricity Act, 2003, the President is pleased to appoint Subhash Chandra Lal Das (Retd.) IAS (AGMUT:1992) as the Chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission,” said the notification issued by Delhi government’s Power department.

In May, a committee was formed by Lt Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu for selection DERC chairperson and its two members.

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The post of DERC chief was vacant since July 2025, hampering crucial regulatory work including annual power tariff fixation and the recovery of pending dues of Rs 38,500 crore of the three power discoms in the city.

The last chairman of the three-member commission was Justice Umesh Kumar (retd) who retired in July 2025.