Chandigarh, January 14 — The Haryana Right to Service (RTS) Commission has termed the practice of issuing electricity bills on an average basis for a long period and subsequently serving consumers with one-time excessively high bills in cases related to UHBVN as a serious case of administrative negligence.
According to the Commission’s spokesperson, in a case from Bahadurgarh, the Commission found that the consumer either did not receive bills for a long time or was issued negative bills, which were not payable. Thereafter, an electricity bill of approximately Rs. 2.38 lakh was suddenly issued. Even after the complaint was lodged, the rectification was carried out in a phased and incomplete manner, exposing the irresponsible working of the concerned officials. The Commission also observed that the mandatory prior notice and minimum time limits prescribed under the Electricity Supply Code were not followed.
Exercising its penal powers under Section 17(1)(h) of the Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014, the Commission ordered the imposition of a Rs. 5,000 fine on two CA officials responsible for preparing incorrect sundry entries and directed each of them to pay Rs. 1,000 as compensation to the consumer. In addition, the Commission expressed dissatisfaction with the SDO officials who approved the incorrect sundry and directed that their names be recorded in the Commission’s records.
The Commission further ordered that the consumer be paid additional compensation at the rate of Rs. 500 for each billing cycle wrongly issued since July 2022. This amount shall initially be paid by the corporation from its own funds and may later be recovered from the erring agency or officials.
In another case from Hisar district, electricity bills were issued on an average basis in two power accounts of a consumer from March 2020 to February 2024. Earlier, bills used to reflect a bi-monthly consumption of around 160 units, but later, one account suddenly showed consumption of approximately 45,000 units, resulting in a bill of more than Rs. 3 lakh, while the second account reflected consumption of about 20,000 units, leading to a bill of Rs. 98,000. The Commission termed this as imposing an excessive financial burden on the consumer and causing severe mental harassment.
The Commission also found that as per the provisions of the Electricity Supply Code, 2014, neither prior notice was given to the consumer nor the mandatory minimum period of 30 days for payment was allowed. The reasons for the excessive billing were also not clearly explained.
The Commission’s spokesperson stated that the Commission considered the Rs. 1,000 compensation per account awarded by the SGRA to be inadequate. Treating each wrongly issued bill as a separate case, the Commission directed that compensation be paid at the rate of Rs. 500 per incorrect bill for both accounts. This compensation shall initially be paid by DHBVN from its own funds and may subsequently be recovered from the erring agency or officials.
The Commission has directed the concerned officers to determine the exact number of wrongly issued bills in both accounts and to release the compensation at the earliest. The Managing Directors of both power distribution corporations have also been urged once again to formulate a clear policy to deal with such situations.
