The Hindu Business Line : You may soon be compensated for power cuts

NO sweat if you have to face a power cut at home! The power utility may be liable to send across a cheque as compensation for the disruption in service.

The Centre's new power Tariff Policy is likely to direct State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) to impose monetary penalties on power utilities if they fail to maintain prescribed standards of service for consumers.

The policy, which would set out broad policy guidelines for tariff setting by power sector regulators, is expected to be placed before the Union Cabinet shortly. It is likely to focus on regulators setting minimum service standards for power utilities, Government officials said.

Regulators could, thereby, be required to set benchmarks for the maximum number of hours of power cuts allowed in a day or the permissible levels of voltage fluctuations.

If power cuts are more than the limits set by the regulatory commission or rampant voltage fluctuations damage equipment at home, consumers can claim monetary compensation from the utility. The concept of penalty for utilities against benchmarked performance levels, provisions for which are also there in the Electricity Act 2003, could, however, take a couple of years to be implemented across all States, since regulators would have to set out minimum prescribed standards of functioning for utilities first.

"During the interaction with stakeholders in the run-up to the firming up of the policy, there was a call for service standards for utilities, which normally resort to unannounced load-shedding or take hours to attend to a maintenance snag or billing problem," a Government official involved in the exercise said.

The Electricity Act 2003, the overarching legislation governing the power sector, provides for consumers to claim compensation from power companies in case of power cuts or equipment damage due to voltage fluctuations.

Under Section 57 of the Act, the SERCs — after consultations with the distribution licensees and consumer groups — are required to specify performance standards for the licensees.

Some States such as Delhi have already headed in this direction.

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