Chandigarh, August 7 – The Haryana Right to Service Commission has directed the electricity department to compensate a consumer from Fatehabad district following a detailed hearing on his complaint.
Sharing more details in this regard, spokesperson of the Commission said that the complainant alleged that despite consistently paying his electricity bills on time, he was wrongly issued a “half-margin” notice demanding Rs. 18,000. Even after depositing a partial amount of Rs. 9,000, the consumer continued receiving erroneous bills.
According to the spokesperson, from November 2023 to April 2025, the consumer was billed based on KWH units instead of the legally required KVAH units. This technical error was corrected only recently, after which a revised bill amounting to Rs. 61,688 was handed to the consumer, causing significant mental and physical distress.
The Commission held that the error was not due to any fault of the consumer but resulted from administrative negligence. It emphasized that if the electricity department had issued accurate bills in the first place, the consumer would have paid them regularly, and this situation could have been avoided.
Under Section 17(1)(h) of the Right to Service Act, 2014, the Commission has ordered compensation of Rs. 1,000 for each incorrect bill. The concerned SDO has been instructed to submit a report by August 8, 2025, specifying how many bills were issued incorrectly since November 24, 2023. Based on this report, the Managing Director of the electricity utility will ensure that the compensation is paid to the consumer.
The Commission has also clarified that the Power Discom is free to recover this amount from the responsible officials, as per the rules. These directives aim to restore public trust in the system and ensure that honest consumers are not penalized for administrative oversights.
Additionally, the Commission has directed the Discom to immediately issue a corrected bill and treat the consumer’s previous payment as a partial payment toward the total. The consumer must be given the option to pay the remaining balance in up to two installments. If the consumer fails to do so, the utility is permitted to proceed as per regulations.
