India, July 4 -- The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a plan to have the national auditor examine the accounts of Delhi's three private electricity distributors. The order pauses, at least for now, a dispute that decides who checks the books before consumers are asked to pay for more than Rs.38,500 crore in accumulated power costs.

A bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and Shree Chandrashekhar issued the stay while hearing an appeal filed by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, or DERC. The matter returns to court on 15 July.

Delhi's three discoms - BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd - have not had a tariff revision since 2014-15. Over that period, the gap between what it costs to sup...