Power Distribution Companies Violating Electricity Act

Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), Ahmedabad, has charged the power distribution companies (DISCOMS) in the State with violating the regulations of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) and misusing them to extort large amounts of money from consumers, amounting to “unjust enrichment”.

CERS has, therefore, urged the GERC to appoint an investigating authority “as per Section 128 (i) of the Electricity Act, 2003”. In fact, CERS has been advocating for quite some time the appointment of an energy experts’ committee in the State to monitor the implementation of GERC regulations and to check the misuse of these regulations by DISCOMS. CERS has also demanded that the illegal and unjust amounts collected from consumers be refunded.

Gujarat implemented the Electricity Act on 10 December 2003, six months after other States did so. As per the Act, all State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) are required to frame rules and regulations within a prescribed time-limit.

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has till date announced about 22 regulations, including the Supply Code, the Standard of Performance, etc., which have made DISCOMS accountable and, therefore, are very important for consumers.

Some of the frequent violations of GERC regulations by DISCOMS are :

i) Converting theft cases under Section 135 to unauthorised use of energy or malpractice under Section 126;

ii) Collecting reconnection charges from consumers without physical disconnection of power;

iii) Collecting compounding charges without filing a first information report (FIR);

iv) Issuing bills without taking meter reading for months;

v) Penalising consumers by testing old meters after 3-4 months in the absence of consumer;

vi) Not providing meter change slip or meter test reports to consumers;

vii) Charging brake horsepower (BHP)-based tariff to the agricultural sector though energy meters are installed.

Date : 11/05/2007
Place : Ahmedabad

Pritee Shah
Senior Director -CERC
Editor, INSIGHT — The Consumer Magazine