India

Das Appointed as New Chairman of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission

By Anjali Thakur

Retired IAS officer Subhas Chandra Lal Das has been appointed chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). The oath was administered by Delhi Power Minister Ashish Sood on Thursday at the minister’s office in New Delhi, according to ANI. Sood praised Das’s long administrative experience and said it would help strengthen Delhi’s power sector, highlighting the government’s focus on transparency, accountability and consumer protection. "His extensive experience and administrative expertise will further strengthen the functioning of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission," the minister said. Das, a 1992 batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, most recently served as secretary of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the central government. He was born on 10 April 1966 and holds a BSc in Statistics, an LLM from Delhi University and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. He is fluent in English and Hindi. Throughout his career he has held positions such as secretary, director, joint secretary, principal finance secretary joint equivalent, contracts officer, deputy secretary and additional secretary to the lieutenant governor. The Secretariat listed his appointment as DERC chairman on 16 September 2026, following his tenure as MSME secretary. The DERC regulates Delhi’s electricity sector, overseeing power distribution, consumer interests, tariff regulation and power procurement by distribution companies. It was established by the Delhi government in 1999 under the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998. The post had been vacant since July 2025 after the retirement of Justice (Retd.) Umesh Kumar. In May 2026, the lieutenant governor formed a committee to recommend candidates for the chairperson and two other members. Das’s appointment places a new chairperson at the regulator’s helm, a body that plays a key role in decisions affecting electricity distribution and consumer interests in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.