Complainant Mrs.Pooja Aggarwal 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 restore her electric connection and transfer it on the her name. Opposite parties be further directed to grant compensation for physically and mentally harassment to her, in the interest of justice.
2. The case of the complainant in brief is that she has taken the house situated at BSF Road, Gurdaspur in an auction on 5.4.2016. The electric connection bearing Account No.3000152815 was installed in the said house which is in the name of previous owner Anil Kumar. Since the date of purchase of the said house, she continue consume the electricity from the above said account and paying the electricity charges to the opposite parties and she never defaulted in payment of electricity charges. She has further pleaded that on 8.3.2017, she has cleared all the dues of opposite parties regarding the above said electric connection and requested them to transfer the said electric connection in her name, but to the utter surprise, after four days, the opposite parties have illegally and forcibly disconnected her electric connection without any cause and reason. She visited the office of opposite party no.1 and requested them to restore her electric connection and transfer the same in her name, but they are not paying any heed to her requests, rather they are demanding more money. Hence this complaint.
3. Notice of the complaint was issued to the opposite parties who appeared through their counsel and filed their written reply taking the preliminary objections that the complaint is not maintainable in the present Forum; the complainant is not the consumer of the opposite party as it is the Anil Kumar who is the recorded consumer of the opposite party and till to date he is the consumer and privity of contract and agreement is with said Anil Kumar and complainant had never informed or approached after the purchase of the house as alleged as such the complainant had no locus standie to file the complaint against the opposite party. And Anil Kumar is a Director in Firm M/s.Nagali Agrotech (P) Limited, Village Bariar, Gurdaspur and who had become defaulter of the opposite party vide Account No.3000185766 and there was Arrears of dues towards said Ltd. Company i.e. Rs.22,27,483/- and even a notice was served on 11.3.2016 and thereafter due to non- payment of electricity dues by the firm after adjustment of security Rs.11,42,413/- is still due and thus the arrears of dues are to be recovered from the consumer as such notice was served vide memo no.196 dated 28.2.2017 to Anil Kumar for making payment and for transfer of defaulting amount in his domestic connection vide Account No.300152815 and similar notice was also sent to the other Director’s/partner’s of the firm. Thus after duly informing the consumer the connection was disconnected thus the opposite party is within their right to disconnect the connection. Thus, the complaint is not maintainable. The act and conduct of the official of the opposite party are protected under the provisions of the Indian Electricity Act. On merits also, the same pleadings have been repeated and dismissal of the complaint prayed with costs.
4. Ld. counsel for the complainant tendered into evidence affidavit of complainant Ex.C-W-1/A alongwith copies of documents Ex.C-1 to Ex.C-9 and closed the evidence.
5. Ld. counsel for the opposite parties tendered into evidence affidavit of Er.Harjit Singh working as S.D.O./A.E.E. Sub Urban Sub Division Gurdaspur Ex.OP-1 alongwith certified copies of documents Ex.OP-2 to Ex.OP-12 and closed the evidence.
6. Written arguments filed by the complainant but not filed by the opposite parties.
7. We have carefully gone through the pleadings of counsels for the parties; written arguments as well as oral arguments advanced by their respective counsels and have also appreciated the evidence produced on record with the valuable assistance of the learned counsels for the parties for the purposes of adjudication of the present complaint.
8. As detailed above, the present complaint was filed by the complainant regarding restoration of electric supply of her house bearing A/c No.3000152815, which was disconnected by opposite party No.1 and also for transfer of this connection in her name.
9. It is the fact that as per copy of sale certificate placed as Ex.C1 by the complainant, complainant has purchased the house in question through auction from Bank of India and she was lawful owner of the house, which is having an electric connection bearing A/c No.3000152815 but the same was in the name of previous owner Sh.Anil Kumar. Further, complainant submitted the copies of deposit receipts of property tax in her name as Ex.C2 and Ex.C3 and also copies of receipts of deposit of electricity bills as Ex.C7 to Ex.C9 to prove that she was residing in that house herself and consuming the electricity from the said electric connection.
10. It was alleged by the complainant that after 08.03.2017 the electric connection of her house was disconnected by opposite party No.1 without any reason, although she has already cleared all the dues but afterwards it has come to know that opposite parties demanded more money. Further, it was also alleged that opposite parties have not transferred the said connection in her name inspite of so many efforts.
But the complainant has not placed on record any evidence with regard to any conversation/correspondence with the opposite parties in both the matters.
11. Opposite parties in their written reply denied all the allegations and stated that a notice vide memo No.196 dated 28.02.2017 as Ex.OP-2 was issued at the address of the house of the complainant in the name of previous owner Sh.Anil Kumar as the electric connection was in his name. It was further pleaded that this notice has been issued to recover the amount of Rs.11,42,413/- which was defaulting amount (None Recovery Amount) of some other electric connection of a company bearing A/c No.3000185766 in the name of M/s Shri Nangli Agrotech Pvt. Ltd. and Sh.Anil Kumar was director of that company. It was further stated that the electric connection of the house of the complainant was disconnected due to non payment of the amount mentioned in the notice.
12. Opposite parties have placed a copy of the electricity bill bearing A/c No. 3000185766 as Ex.OP-7 amounting to Rs.22,27,483/- which is in the name of M/s. Nangali Agrotech (P) Limited under LS (Large Supply Category) with sanctioned load of 1000 KW and it was pleaded that the complainant was asked to deposit the portion of the amount of above electricity bill of industry on the plea that their electric connection was in the name of director of this company.
13. Opposite parties have neither placed on record the copy of disconnection orders of the electric connection in question bearing A/c No.3000152815 nor any regulation of the department to prove their action for recovery of the amount of the bill of industry from the complainant, who is not the part and parcel of that company at all.
14. During the course of arguments Ld. counsel for the opposite parties quoted reference of certain judgments of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, Hon'ble Haryana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and Hon'ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh, but it is seen that these are different from the present case in the manners that either these were the cases of same premises for which the previous arrears of amount was pending to recover or the same person to whom the amount belongs to was residing in that premises, whereas in the present case neither the premises is same as that of the premises of defaulting amount nor the same person (Sh.Anil Kumar) who was to clear the defaulting amount of some other place was residing in the premises in question. In the present case the complainant is residing in this house herself and consuming the electricity and the only point is that the electricity connection is in the name of the Sh.Anil Kumar who was director of a firm to which this defaulting amount belongs to. It is pertinent to mention here that complainant has not purchased the said house directly from the previous owner Sh.Anil Kumar but purchased it in auction through the bank. So, the previous owner has no concern with this property in question as far as ownership and electricity bills are concerned.
15. There are clear cut instructions in the ESIM, 2018 of PSPCL regarding Recovery Of Arrears From Defaulting Consumers under instructions No.92.3, which is read as under:-
"The disconnected consumers who are defaulters of PSPCL may sell their premises /property without any intimation to PSPCL. If this happens, the chances of recovery of defaulting amount become remote. Therefore, it is desirable that the field officers may intimate the revenue authorities like SDM/Tehsildar regarding the amount to be paid by the consumer to the PSPCL so that if any transaction regarding sale or purchase of the property takes place, the revenue authorities may be in a position to recover the outstanding amount due to the PSPCL at the time of such a sale or purchase and pass on to PSPCL. Compliance of these instructions need to be monitored by Sr.field officers and in case it is noticed that the Sub divisional Officers/Officials have not taken due care in informing the revenue authorities, then in that case if recovery is not possible due to sale/purchase of the premises/property, the said amount would be recoverable from the officer/official responsible for not intimating to the revenue authorities".
16. In the present case auction was conducted by bank in 04/2016 but notice of recovery was issued in 02/2017 by opposite party No.1, meaning thereby opposite parties have not followed their own instructions as quoted above.
17. In view of the above we are of the considered opinion that disconnection of the electricity connection bearing A/c No.3000152815 of the house of the complainant by the opposite parties to recover the arrear amount of other company bearing A/c No.3000185766 as stated by the opposite parties in their reply just because that the connection is in the name of Director of that company is not justified at all. Moreover, the instructions of the department quoted above does not allow the opposite parties for such action.
18. As far as, change of name of the electric connection is concerned the complainant has not put on record any evidence showing that she has submitted the requisite documents regarding completing the formalities for the same with opposite parties. So, we are of the opinion that the complainant has to submit the requisite documents with the opposite parties alongwith deposit of required fee etc. for getting the electric connection transferred in her name.
19. In view of the aforesaid discussion and facts of the case, present complaint is partly allowed and opposite party No.1 is hereby directed not to disconnect the supply of the house of the complainant bearing A/c No. 3000152815 on the basis of recovery of the amount as per their notice No.196 dated 28.02.2017. Opposite party No.1 is further directed to transfer the connection bearing A/c No.3000152815 in the name of the complainant within 45 days after submission of application and completion of the requisite formalities by the complainant. No order as to costs.
20. The complaint could not be decided within the stipulated period due to heavy pendency of Court Cases, vacancies in the office and due to pandemic of Covid-19.
21. Copy of the order be communicated to the parties free of charges. File be consigned.
(Lalit Mohan Dogra)
President
Announced: (B.S.Matharu)
Aug. 08, 2023 Member
YP.
