PER:

Varinder Pal Singh Saini, Member

1        The complainant has filed the present complaint by invoking the provisions of Consumer Protection Act under Section 11 and 12 against the opposite parties on the allegations that the complainant is consumer of Punjab State Power Corporation and he has got installed an electric meter for domestic use of electricity whose account Number is A31HT311404Y issued in the name of complainant and was running in the premises/ residential house of the  complainant and now the same electric meter has been removed by the opposite party forcibly and illegally. The above said electrical meter No. A31HT3114004Y had been installed in the name of complainant from a long period by opposite party which had been installed in the box as nobody has ever permission to unlock the box as such, there is no possibility of any kind of touch the electricity from the box by the  consumer like the complainant and since the installation of the said electrical meter in the name of the complainant, the complainant has been paying all the bills to the opposite party from time to time except Bill No.1019 dated No. 23.7.2019 amounting to Rs. 97,390/- and Bill No. 1055 dated 2.10.2019 amounting to Rs. 1,25,636/- being arbitrary and obnoxious as the consumption of electricity of the complainant is very limited and he had been paying the bill of electricity up to Rs. 1600/- to 2000/- in the year 2018 and back as per the consumption of the electricity for the month of May, June and July. The electrical meter of the complainant has also been removed forcibly and illegally from the premise of the complainant by the opposite party. The opposite party has issued above mentioned alleged bills to the complainant on average basis as per their wishes, which is wrong, illegal null and void, abnitio and are not binding upon the complainant and the complainant is not liable to pay the said illegal amount of the above mentioned bills as it is a fault of the opposite party and the above mentioned bills are wrong, illegal and null and void and is against the law. Now the opposite party under the garb of the above mentioned bills raising threats to recover the alleged impugned amount of both the bills mentioned above raised through the above said bills from the complainant forcibly and illegally for which the opposite party have got no legal or valid right, title or interest to do so. Further the opposite party has removed the electric meter illegally and forcibly of the complainant and has not installed electric meter in the residential house of the complainant on demand as such, in case, the opposite party succeeds in their nefarious design and threatened acts, an irreparable loss shall accrue to the complainant, which cannot be compensated in terms of money. The opposite party without any legal right, reliable and cogent proof regarding using excess electricity and without any proof of any kind of the complainant is demanding illegal and arbitrary amount of the above mentioned bills from the complainant by way of unfair and improper means to which the opposite parties have no right to demand the same and impose any illegal charges/liabilities upon the complainant without any proof. Moreover, no prior notice and details has been given by the opposite party to the complainant before adding the amount of sundry charges in the bills in question. Now the opposite parties without any legal right unlawfully, forcibly and illegally are extending threats to recover alleged, arbitrary amount from the complainant by way of harassing him & are also threatening to face dire consequences in the pretext of the above mentioned illegal bills thereby the opposite parties unnecessarily and illegally are interfering into the peaceful life of the complainant and are ingression his fundamental right as the complainant got every legal right to enjoy his life independently, peacefully and without any kind of interference of any person. The opposite parties have got no legal right or interest whatsoever either to interfere into the peaceful life of the complainant or to demand any illegal amount from the complainant in any manner. The complainant personally approached the opposite parties after receiving the illegal and arbitrary bills mentioned above many a times with a request to correct the above mentioned bill and not to demand the illegal amount of the above said bills by way of unfair means & to dealt with the matter leniently but the opposite parties failed to pay any heed on the request of the complainant whereby the opposite parties were again requested by the complainant not to harass the complainant in any manner by way of demanding any illegal and the complainant has prayed that the opposite parties may be directed to quash the bill and not to demand and recover the illegal land arbitrary amount of Bill No. 1019 dated 23.7.2019 amounting to Rs. 97,390/- and bill No. 1055 dated 2.10.2019 amounting to Rs. 1,25,636/- from the complainant and further directed to correct the said bills and restraining the opposite parties not to harass the complainant in any manner  by way of demanding any illegal land arbitrary amount of said bills  from him as well as to pay Rs. 50,000/- as compensation on account of mental and physical harassment caused to the complainant and litigation charges to the tune of Rs. 10,000/- in the interest of justice, equity and fair play. Alongwith the complaint, the complainant has placed on record self attested copy of affidavit of complainant Ex. C-1, Self attested copy of affidavit of stay application of complainant Ex. C1/A, Self attested copy of Bill dated 23.7.2019 to the tune of Rs. 97390/- Ex. C-2, Self attested copy of Bill dated 2.10.2019 to the tune of Rs. 1,25,636/- Ex. C-3, Self attested copy of Adhar Card of complainant Ex. C-4.

2        Notice of this complaint was sent to the opposite parties and opposite parties appeared through counsel and filed written version by interalia pleadings that the present complaint is not maintainable as on the date of filing of the complaint, the connection of the complainant stood permanently disconnected for nonpayment of the defaulting amount of Rs.97,390.00 vide disconnection order No.148/72 dt.03-09-2019 and he was not a consumer of the OP as defined under the Consumer Protection Act. The complaint is liable to be dismissed on this very short ground. Under Regulation 35 of Supply Code,2014 it is clearly provided that the consumer has to deposit the bill amount and after deposit he can submit his objections, if any, with the SDO of the Sub Division under which he is the consumer and on his failure to deposit the amount, the connection can be disconnected as, the bill itself is a notice as per provisions of Electricity Act. The complainant has admitted that his meter already stands removed. As already submitted the connection was permanently disconnected due to pendency of huge defaulting amount by way of consumption charges and the disconnection was the result of non-payment of the said defaulting amount.  It will be seen from the copy of consumption data attached that meter of the complainant was dead in month of February, 2018 and March,2018 and was changed in May,2018. The seals of the meter were found tempered from January,2019, onwards and no consumption was shown from May, 2019 to November, 2019. The copy of disconnection order is EX-R2 and the consumption data is EX-R3. In the month of January, 2019 the meter with the tempered seals have shown a consumption of 8510 units as is clear from the consumption data itself. After permanent disconnection of the complainant's connection vide order dt.3.9.2019 the complainant was drawing energy illegally from the house of his brother namely Sukhbir Singh and the same was detected during the checking on 19.2.2020 by the officials of the opposite parties and the copy of checking report is Ex-R4 as will be seen further that the meter of his brother Sukhbir Singh did not show any consumption from February, 2018 to July, 2019 and his meter was also dead in 2/2018 and 3/2018 the meter was changed in May, 2018 and from that period onwards upto 25.1.2020 the meter seals were found tempered with. As per provisions of Electricity Act it is supposed to be a case of theft of energy. The consumption data of brother of the complainant is EX-R5. All the bills issued to the complainant were issued on average basis except bills of 02/2018, 09/2018, 11/2018 whereas bill for January, 2019 was issued for recorded consumption of 8510 units. For payment of the consumption charges the bill itself is a notice and if the amount of the bill issued in any particular month is not paid then the amount of the bill plus surcharge amount are carried forward and included in the bill of next month and this process is carried on until either the payment is made or the connection is disconnected. There was no relationship of consumer and service provider in between the complainant and the opposite parties after disconnection of his connection vide order dt.03-09-2019 EX-R2.  The opposite parties have denied the other contents of the complaint and prayed for dismissal of the same. Alongwith the written version, the opposite parties have placed on record affidavit of SDO PSPCL Attari Ex. R-1, Copy of PDCO order dated 3.9.2019 Ex. R-2, Copy of consumption data Ex. R-3, Copy of Consumption data of Sukhbir Singh Ex. R-4, Copy of regulation 35 of Supply code, 2014 Ex. R-5.

3        We have heard the Ld. counsel for the complainant and opposite parties and have carefully gone through the record placed on the file.

4        Ld. counsel for the complainant contended that he is consumer of Punjab State Power Corporation and he has got installed an electric meter for domestic use of electricity whose account Number is A31HT311404Y issued in the name of complainant and was running in the premises/ residential house of the  complainant and now the same electric meter has been removed by the opposite party forcibly and illegally. He further contended that the above said electrical meter No. A31HT3114004Y had been installed in the name of complainant from a long period by opposite party which had been installed in the box as nobody has ever permission to unlock the box. He further contended that there is no possibility of any kind of touch the electricity from the box by the  consumer like the complainant and since the installation of the said electrical meter in the name of the complainant, the complainant has been paying all the bills to the opposite party from time to time except Bill No.1019 Dated No. 23.7.2019 amounting to Rs. 97,390/- and Bill No. 1055 dated 2.10.2019 amounting to Rs. 1,25,636/- being arbitrary and obnoxious as the consumption of electricity of the complainant is very limited and he had been paying the bill of electricity up to Rs.1600/- to 2000/- in the year 2018 and back as per the consumption of the electricity for the month of May, June and July. He further contended that the electrical meter of the complainant has also been removed forcibly and illegally from the premise of the complainant by the opposite party. The opposite party has issued above mentioned bills to the complainant on average basis as per their wishes, which is wrong, illegal null and void, abnitio and are not binding upon the complainant and prayed that the present complaint may be dismissed.

5        On the other hands, Ld. counsel for the opposite party contended that the present complaint is not maintainable as on the date of filing of the complaint, the connection of the complainant stood permanently disconnected for nonpayment of the defaulting amount of Rs.97,390.00 vide disconnection order No.148/72 dt.03-09-2019 and he was not a consumer of the OP as defined under the Consumer Protection Act. The complaint is liable to be dismissed on this very short ground. Under Regulation 35 of Supply Code,2014 it is clearly provided that the consumer has to deposit the bill amount and after deposit he can submit his objections, if any, with the SDO of the Sub Division under which he is the consumer and on his failure to deposit the amount, the connection can be disconnected as, the bill itself is a notice as per provisions of Electricity Act. He further contended that the complainant has admitted that his meter already stands removed. The connection was permanently disconnected due to pendency of huge defaulting amount by way of consumption charges and the disconnection was the result of non-payment of the said defaulting amount.  It will be seen from the copy of consumption data attached that meter of the complainant was dead in month of February, 2018 and March,2018 and was changed in May,2018. The seals of the meter were found tempered from January,2019, onwards and no consumption was shown from May, 2019 to November, 2019. The copy of disconnection order is EX-R2 and the consumption data is EX-R3. He further contended that in the month of January, 2019 the meter with the tempered seals have shown a consumption of 8510 units as is clear from the consumption data itself. After permanent disconnection of the complainant's connection vide order dt. 3.9.2019 the complainant was drawing energy illegally from the house of his brother namely Sukhbir Singh and the same was detected during the checking on 19.2.2020 by the officials of the opposite parties and the copy of checking report is Ex-R4 as will be seen further that the meter of his brother Sukhbir Singh did not show any consumption from February, 2018 to July, 2019 and his meter was also dead in 2/2018 and 3/2018 the meter was changed in May, 2018 and from that period onwards upto 25.1.2020 the meter seals were found tempered with. He further contended that as per provisions of Electricity Act it is supposed to be a case of theft of energy. The consumption data of brother of the complainant is EX-R5. All the bills issued to the complainant were issued on average basis except bills of 02/2018, 09/2018, 11/2018 whereas bill for January, 2019 was issued for recorded consumption of 8510 units. For payment of the consumption charges the bill itself is a notice and if the amount of the bill issued in any particular month is not paid then the amount of the bill plus surcharge amount are carried forward and included in the bill of next month and this process is carried on until either the payment is made or the connection is disconnected. There was no relationship of consumer and service provider in between the complainant and the opposite parties after disconnection of his connection vide order dt.03-09-2019 EX-R2 and prayed for dismissal of the same.

6        We have gone through the rival contention of the parties.

7        In the present case, the amount in dispute relates to defaulting amount which is quite clear from the pleadings of the opposite party as the opposite party No. Para No. 1 of preliminary objection has pleaded as follows:-

“…..the connection of the complainant stood permanently disconnected for nonpayment of the defaulting amount of Rs.97,390.00 vide disconnection order No.148/72 dt.03-09-2019…..”

Similarly in Para No. 1 of on merits the opposite party has pleaded as follows:-

“…..As already submitted the connection was permanently disconnected due to pendency of huge defaulting amount by way of consumption charges and the disconnection was the result of non-payment of the said defaulting amount…..” 

As such, it is proved on record that the amount in question pertains to complainant prior to the year 2019. As per notification of Punjab Govt. Department of bearing No. A.V.P.N.1/246/2021-1 Cabinet/ 6516-20 dated 30.9.2021 the arrears prior to 29.9.2021 of DS connection up the sanctioned load of 2 KW have been waived off. The connection of the complainant is DS and sanctioned load is 0.86 KW and the amount in question has been waived off vide ibid notification of the Punjab Govt. and the opposite party is not entitled to above said amount. 

8        The opposite party has placed on record documents Ex. R-6 which is inspection report and another document i.e. notice under Section 126 of the Electricity Act, but the said documents are addressed to one Sukhbir Singh who is alleged brother of complainant. But the said documents of Sukhbir Singh has no relevancy with the facts and circumstances of the present case and same have been unnecessarily placed on record. Moreover  at the end of Para No. 1 of the written version of on merits, the opposite party has pleaded that as per provisions of Electricity Act it is supposed to be a case of theft of energy. The opposite party itself not sure and pleaded that the present case supposed to be a case of theft of energy, consequently, this commission cannot come on conclusion on the pleadings of ‘if’ and ‘but’.  The documents of Sukhbir Singh have been placed in the present case unnecessarily and same have no relevancy with the facts of the present case.

9        In view of above discussion, the present complaint is allowed and the amount of the present complaint pertaining to defaulting amount prior to 29.9.2021 has been waived off in view of the notification mentioned above and opposite party cannot recover the said amount from the complainant. The complainant has been harassed by the opposite party unnecessarily for a long time. The complainant is also entitled to Rs. 7,500/- as compensation on account of harassment and mental agony and Rs 5,000/- as litigation expenses. Opposite Party is directed to comply with the order within one month from the date of receipt of copy of the order, failing which the complainant is entitled to interest @ 9% per annum, on the awarded amount, from the date of complaint till its realisation. Case could not be disposed of within the stipulated period due to heavy pendency of the cases in this Commission and due to COVID-19. Copies of the order be furnished to the parties as per rules. File is ordered to be consigned to the record room.

Announced in Open Commission

13.09.2023