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Delhi’s Electricity Ombudsman Sundaram Krishna has disposed of 42 of the 45 cases before him since he took charge in June last year. Krishna said: “The focus is on reducing the burden on consumers that have reached this stage after multiple layers.”
Under the existing three-tier grievance redress structure, consumers first approach the power distribution utility (discom) and then the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF). The ombudsman’s office is the last tier of redress for consumers before approaching the Delhi High Court. To the credit of this framework, only one case went to the High Court since the ombudsman’s office was instituted; the case was dismissed.
The ombudsman also awards compensation, payable by a discom to aggrieved parties. Since taking office, Krishna has awarded a total compensation of ₹1.32 lakh with ₹85,000 payable by BRPL (BSES Rajdhani Power limited) and ₹47,000 by TPDDL (Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited).
A double-edged sword While faulty meters remain a prominent bone of contention between consumers and discoms, there have been instances of consumers seeking undue benefit too. Some of these cases emerged when much of Delhi’s power distribution was handed over to three distribution companies in June 2002.
After the privatisation of discoms, there were accounting fallacies that led to some connections not being charged for the power consumed.
In one such case, the complainant had not declared there were three electricity connections on the premises. While the bills accounted for two connections, the third was discovered later during a routine check.
With the bill running into several lakhs of rupees, the complainant approached the grievance redress structure. The ombudsman ruled in favour of the discom, directing the complainant to pay the full amount.
Almost a fourth of the cases before the ombudsman pertain to property disputes. Parties seek discontinuing electricity supply to a portion of the disputed property for exerting pressure on the other party.
For these instances, the case is dismissed till a court resolves the property dispute and awards the rights to any one party.
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