By Smt. C.S. Sulekha Beevi, President,<br /> <br /> 1. Complainant challenges the electricity bill for Rs.7,152/- dated, 11-6-07 issued by opposite parties.<br /> 2. Second opposite party filed version on behalf of himself and others. Opposite party submits that the alleged service connection is under L.T.IV tariff and date of connection is 14-12-2000. The registered connected load is 6.165 KW. At the time of inspection by Regional Audit Officer (RAO) it was found that bills were issued to the consumer for 5 KW instead of 7 KW till date. Hence the above bill was issued for short assessment for the period of 12/2000 to 4/07. Complainant is liable to pay charges for the energy consumed by him and that complaint is to be dismissed.<br /> 3. Evidence consists of affidavits filed by both sides. Exts.A1 to A4 marked on the side of complainant. Ext.B1 marked on behalf of opposite party.<br /> 4. The complainant's say is that he has been regularly paying current charges and there is no amount as arrears. He is aggrieved that the short assessment bill for Rs.7,152/- dated, 11-6-07 which is Exct.A1 is issued without any basis. Complaint is resisted by opposite party for the reason that on inspection conducted by Regional Audit Officer on 04-12-06 it was found that eventhough the registered connected load of complainant is 7 KW bills were issued only for 5 KW. Opposite party relies upon Ext.B1 which is the photocopy of Audit report. Item No.6 in Ext.B1 refers to consumer number of complainant. It reads as under:<br /> “The connected load of the consumer is 6.125 KW but billed only for 5 KW <br /> and the date of change of CL is not furnished in registers concerned. So the <br /> loss sustained bythe Board has to be recovered from date of connection to <br /> 9/06 at penal rate. The date of connection of the consumer is 14-12-2000.”<br /> Thus according to opposite parties Ext.A1 bill has been issued as per directions in Ext.B1 audit report. It is also submitted that in Ext.A1 only Rs.6660/- is charged as short assessment and the balance of Rs.110/- has to be charged in the next bill. On perusal of Ext.A1 it is seen that split up details of the amount demanded is not stated. It is simply stated as Rs.6,975/- towards fixed charges and Rs.135/- towards energy charges. Counsel for opposite party submitted that Rs.6,975/- includes Rs.6660/- of short assessment charges Rs.315/- being monthly fixed charges. Exts.A1 thus includes Rs.6660/- + Rs.315/- + Rs.135.90 + Rs.11.10 + Rs.30/- which is Rs.7,152/-. Opposite party has prepared Ext.A1 bill in an irresponsible manner. Complainant has a right to be informed about the details of the amount payable by him. Even though complainant contends that Ext.A1 bill is illegal, he does not deny that his registered connected load is 6.165 KW. Ext.A1, A3 and A4 bills reveal that the assessment was for 4.165 KW only. Due to bonafide mistake bills were issued for lesser connected load. The mistake was brought to light in audit which is a mechanism for counter checking such errors. In our opinion opposite party is entitled to have the mistake rectified and recover the charges for the energy actually supplied. Complainant strongly argued that the claim if any is barred by limitation and that there should be a finality to the bills issued, by the Board. Section 56(2) of Indian Electricity Act, 2003 envisages a time limit of two years for the recovery of any sum due to the Board. This provision envisaged in the new Act of 2003 intends to give finality to the demands raised by Electricity Board. From the above discussions we hold complainant is liable to pay short assessment charges for the period of two years prior to the date of inspection which is 04-12-06. The act of opposite party issuing demand notice for the period beyond two years amounts to deficiency in service.<br /> 5. In the result, we partly allow the complaint. Ext.A1 bill for Rs.7,152/- dated, 11-6-07 stands cancelled. Opposite party is ordered to issue revised bill of short assessment for the period of two years prior to the date of inspection (04-12-06) without any penalty. Complainant shall be liable to pay any amount (Rs.492/-) which is charged towards monthly current charges in Ext.A1 bill. Any amount already paid towards Ext.A1 bill shall be adjusted to future bills if necessary. We make no order as to costs.<br /> <br /> Dated this 30th day of April, 2008.<br /> <br /> <br /> C.S. SULEKHA BEEVI, PRESIDENT<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> E. AYISHAKUTTY, MEMBER<br /> <br /> <br /> APPENDIX<br /> <br /> <br /> Witness examined on the side of the complainant : Nil <br /> Documents marked on the side of the complainant : Ext.A1 to A4<br /> Ext.A1 : Demand and Disconnection notice for Rs.7,152/- dated, 11-6-07<br /> issued by opposite party to complainant.<br /> Ext.A2 : Receipt for Rs.902/- dated, 31-01-08 from opposite party to complainant<br /> Ext.A3 : Demand and Disconnection notice for Rs.446/- dated, 10-01-08<br /> issued by opposite party to complainant.<br /> Ext.A4 : Demand and Disconnection notice for Rs.393/- dated, 11-12-07<br /> issued by opposite party to complainant. <br /> Witness examined on the side of the opposite parties : Nil<br /> Documents marked on the side of the opposite parties : Ext.B1<br /> Ext.B1 : Photo copy of the Report of Regional Audit Officer.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> C.S. SULEKHA BEEVI, PRESIDENT<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> E. AYISHAKUTTY, MEMBER<br />