Complainant Dalbir Singh, has filed the present complaint against the opposite parties U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act (for short, C.P.Act.) seeking necessary directions to the opposite parties to quash the illegal demand of Rs.2,01,590/- and re-issue the bill as per actual consumption. Opposite parties be further directed to pay Rs.20,000/- as litigation expenses and Rs.20,000/- for mental harassment, in the interest of justice.

2.        The case of the complainant in brief is that he is consumer of opposite parties vide account No.676PF630286W and has been paying the consumption bills regularly. His sanctioned load is 1.00 KW. Opposite parties had sent the impugned bill dated 2.5.2016 amounting to Rs.2,01,590/- to him and in the said bill it is shown that he consumed 752 units of electricity and the consumption charges are accessed as Rs.2,225/-. The opposite parties without any cause and reason directed him to deposit Rs.1,98,952/- illegally, whereas he has deposited all the earlier bills and nothing remains due. He has next pleaded that earlier he was running a Small Atta Chaki Unit at village Qadian and there is dispute of some amount and he had filed appeal against that litigation arising out of that small Atta Chakki and the opposite parties have illegally transfered the said disputed amount in domestic connection and after adding the said disputed amount, the opposite parties have sent the impugned bill which is illegal, unlawful, arbitrary and without due course of Law. Hence this complaint.

3.       Notice of the complaint was issued to the opposite parties who appeared through their counsel and filed their written reply admitting therein that a domestic supply electric connection bearing Account No.PF 63 0286W has been installed in the name of the complainant in his premises. The load of this connection is 1.00 KW. It is further submitted that  another electric connection of Atta Chakki bearing Account No.SG 16 0392K was running in the name of complainant Dalbir Singh and he was a consumer for both these connections. The Atta Chakki connection was also running in the same locality under the Qadian Sub Division of PSPCL. The complainant defaulted in the payment of the consumption charges and other miscellaneous charges of the Atta Chakki connection and he filed a complaint before this Hon’ble Forum bearing complaint No.16 of 2009 which was dismissed on 8.10.2009. Complainant Dalbir Singh preferred an appeal before the Hon’ble State Commission Chandigarh, the same was dismissed on 24.2.2014. These appeals were regarding the abovesaid Atta Chakki. Dalbir Singh became liable to make the payment of huge amount including the current consumption charges of Atta Chakki since he failed to pay the current consumption charges of Atta Chakki. During the pendency of abovesaid appeal before Hon’ble State Commission, Dabir Singh filed another complaint before this Hon’ble Forum at Gurdaspur vide complaint No.530-11 on 6.12.2011, which was also dismissed vide order dated 21.11.2013 regarding this Atta Chakki. All the orders passed by the Hon’ble District Consumer Forum/State Commission have been passed in favour of PSPCL. Due to the non-payment of the consumption charges and other miscellaneous charges of Atta Chakki this connection has been permanently disconnected. As both the connections were in the name of complainant Dalbir Singh, as such the arrears of Atta Chakki connection were added in the other connection which is in dispute and is in his name. Before disconnecting the Atta Chakki connection a notice vide Memo No.765 dated 26.3.2014 was served upon the complainant. All other averments made in the complaint has been vehemently denied and lastly prayed that the complaint may be dismissed with costs.

4.      Complainant tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.C1, alongwith other documents Ex.C2 to Ex.C5 and closed the evidence. 

5.       Counsel for the opposite parties tendered into evidence affidavit of Sh.Sudarshan Pa Singh Randhawa S.D.O. P.S.P.C.L. Ex.OP1, alongwith other document Ex.OP2 to Ex.OP-5 and closed the evidence.

6.         We have duly heard the learned counsels for both the sides in the back drop of the legally applicable statutory merit of the supporting evidence/ document(s) as produced by the litigating parties in order to statutorily resolve the inter-se dispute (under the C P Act’ 1986) prompting the present complaint. We find that the complainant had been the holder of consumer A/c # 676PF630286W and the present dispute prompted at his having in receipt of the inflated consumption Bill dated 02.05.2016 for Rs.2,01,590/- (Ex.C2) further followed by threats of disconnection of his electricity connection. The complainant has further stated that out of the present OP demand only a sum of Rs.2,225/- for 752 units pertained to his present DS connection whereas balance Rs.1,98,952/- pertained to the arrears of his Atta Chakki Bill at Qadian and for which a separate litigation at appellate stage has been in progress but the OP Corporation are adamant to enforce recovery through the present A/c and hence the present complaint.       

7.       We further find that the OP Corporation in its written reply and in its Affidavit Ex.OP1 has admittedly deposed that the impugned Bill comprised of Rs.1,98,952/- as the balance arrears transfer of the Atta Chakki Bill at Qadian to the present DS connection for recovery purposes. We are certainly not convinced with the clarification as put forth by the OP Corporation to justify its act of adjoining/aligning the arrears of one NRS/ Atta Chakki connection to the second DS connection of the consumer since it is without having provided any reason (logical purpose) and/or details of the arbitrarily alleged ‘arrears’.

8.       In the light of the all above, we dispose off the present complaint and thus ORDER the opposite party corporation to withdraw the impugned portion of the Bill in dispute (Ex.C2) other than the current consumption charges of Rs.2,225/- and to recover the balance arrears amount of the NRS connection as per the applicable rules of recovery as prescribed in law. The complainant shall be liable to pay the applicable consumption charges only from the date of the impugned Bill onwards and thus the OP Service Providers shall raise only the appropriate Bills comprised of applicable consumption charges only.

9.        Copy of the order be communicated to the parties free of charges. After compliance, file be consigned to record. 

                   (Naveen Puri)

                                                                                      President   

Announced:                                                             (Jagdeep Kaur)

November,10 2016                                                Member

*MK*