BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, SAS NAGAR, MOHALI

                                  Consumer Complaint No.210 of 2015

                                 Date of institution:          07.05.2015

                                                     Date of Decision:            21.01.2016

Harinder Pal Jeet Singh son of Gurbax Singh resident of House No.85, Ward No.1, New Anaj Mandi Kurali, Tehsil Kharar, District SAS Nagar (Mohali).

    ……..Complainant

                                        Versus

1.      Managing Director, PSPCL, The Mall, Patiala.

2.      Xen, PSPCL, Kharar, District SAS Nagar.

3.      SDO, PSPCL, Kurali, District SAS Nagar.

………. Opposite Parties

Complaint under Section 12 of the

Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

CORAM

Mrs. Madhu. P. Singh, President.

Shri Amrinder Singh Sidhu, Member

Mrs. R.K. Aulakh, Member.

Present:    Shri Narinder Singh, Advocate alongwith complainant.

                Shri Sarvpreet Singh, counsel for the OPs.

(Mrs. Madhu P. Singh, President)

ORDER

                The complainant has filed the present complaint seeking following directions to the Opposite Parties (for short ‘the OPs’) to:

(a)    issue him the electricity bill in time by mentioning the correct meter.

(b)    to pay him Rs.70,000/- for mental tension and physical harassment.

                The complainant is consumer of the OPs vide account No.K65CH361706P. However, the address of the meter has been mentioned by the OPs on some other place due to which the bills of consumption does not reach him in time and sometimes the due date of the bills also expired. The complainant had been facing unnecessary harassment due to this. The complainant many a times requested the OPs but the OPs have not done anything.  Now the bills are not coming for the last many months and when complainant had to pay these bills, in that eventuality he would face lot of harassment. Due to this act of the OPs, the complainant has to undergo lot of mental tension, harassment etc. With these allegations the complainant has filed the present complaint.

2.             The OPs in their reply have pleaded in the preliminary objections that the complainant has not come before this Forum with clean hands and concealed the fact that as per his application dated 10.02.2014, the account of the complainant has been shifted to new account/group and he is getting the electricity bills regularly and he has paid last bill of Rs.1900/- on 24.06.2014. He challenged the working of the electricity meter installed at his premises vide application dated 15.06.2015 which shows that he is getting the electricity bills regularly. The complainant has no locus standi to file the present complaint.  On merits, the averments made in the complaint have been denied and dismissal of the complaint has been sought.

3.             To succeed in the complaint, the complainant tendered in evidence affidavit Ex.CW-1/1 and copies of documents Ex.C-1 to C-4.

4.             Evidence of the OPs consists of affidavit of Gurwinder Singh, their SDO Ex.OP-1/1 and copies of documents Ex.OP-1/2 to Ex.OP-1/4.

5.             We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have also gone through the written arguments submitted by them.

6.             The grievance of the complainant is that his electricity connection No. has been shown in the wrong group while issuing the electricity consumption bill by the OPs. As a result the electricity bills are not received by the complainant in time causing inconvenience to the complainant to trace the bills and then make the payment as per due date mentioned on the bill and in this process the complainant has been put to lot of inconvenience and harassment by the OPs.  Therefore, vide letter dated 12.07.2008 Ex.C-1 duly received by the OPs vide diary No.637 dated 08.08.2008 requested the OPs to make necessary corrections in the group of meter number of the complainant so as the bills are received by in time at proper address and he is able to pay the bills without default. The grievance of the complainant is that the OPs have failed to attend to the genuine request of the complainant as the manual bills issued were not received by him time. When the OPs have introduced the online issuance of electricity consumption bills the complainant had been using that facility to make the payment without having received any physical bill from the OPs.  Finding no response from the OPs regarding correction of his group despite various personal visits and requests, the complainant has finally moved the present complaint.  During the proceedings the OPs in their reply have mentioned about some application dated 10.02.2014 moved by the complainant wherein the complainant has made a request to shift his account group and as per the Ops according to the application dated 10.02.2014 his account group has been shifted from CK-3601706P to MF-82-301 on 24.03.2014 and thereafter the complainant is getting regular electricity bills in the new group and on the correct address of the complainant. The complainant has not disputed the effected change and receipt of fresh electricity bills on the new group from March, 2014.

7.             The disputed question remain whether the necessary correction in the group has been effected by the Ops as per the request letter dated 12.07.2008 Ex.C-1 or as per request letter dated 10.02.2014 as claimed by the OPs.  Perusal of the file shows that the OPs have not produced the application dated 10.02.2014, according to which the OPs have made the necessary change in the group number of the electricity connection of the complainant. Thus, in the absence of any document to show that request dated 10.02.2014 has been considered by the OPs, the plea of the OPs is without any cogent evidence. On the other hand the complainant has proved his request dated 12.07.2008 Ex.C-1 duly acknowledged vide diary No.637 dated 08.08.2008 has not been disproved by the OPs. Thus, it is ample clear that the request for change of group number from CK-3601706P to MF-82-301 remained pending with the OPs till 24.03.2014 and during this period from July, 2008 to March, 2014 the complainant has been put to harassment and mental agony as he was not getting the regular electricity consumption bills in time and had to make extra efforts to trace and locate the bills.

8.             During the course of proceedings an effort was made to settle the issue amicably between the parties. The official of the OPs i.e. SDO Shri Gurwinder Singh, after verifying the records and account of the complainant’s electricity connection made a statement that as on May, 2015 there is outstanding amount of Rs.2850/- against the complainant which they are willing to accept in three monthly installments without penalty and surcharge and further the meter of the complainant is pending with the testing lab for which the complainant has to pay the meter challenge charges. The complainant has not disputed the outstanding amount of Rs.2850/- as on 5/2015 and further the meter challenge charges which he has to bear. The challenge of the electricity meter and any outstanding amount due is not the subject matter of the present complaint. Therefore, the complainant has not accepted any compromise and argued for compensation from the OPs for causing him mental agony and harassment he has suffered in the hands of the Ops from 12.07.2008 to 24.03.2014.

9.             Undisputedly the delay of six years in change of group of the complainant electricity meter has been proved by the complainant as the OPs have failed to show the change of meter on the basis of some application dated 10.02.2014. Therefore, this Forum is of the view that the OPs took six long years to redress a very minor grievance of the complainant i.e. the change of group of the meter of the complainant which finally has been done by the OPs on 24.03.2014. Thus the delay caused in taking such an action, though seems to be a small issue, yet has a larger bearing on the convenience of the consumer which is definitely an act of deficiency in service on the part of the OPs and for such an act on the complaint deserves to be allowed and the complainant deserves to be compensated.

10.           In view of above discussion the complaint is allowed with the following directions to the OPs to:

(a)    to pay to the complainant a lump sum compensation of Rs.20,000/- (Rs. Twenty thousand only) for mental agony, harassment and costs of litigation.

                Compliance of this order be made within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. Certified copies of the order be furnished to the parties forthwith free of cost and thereafter the file be consigned to the record room.

Pronounced.                           

January 21, 2016.       

                                (Mrs. Madhu P. Singh)

                                                                        President

(Amrinder Singh Sidhu)

Member

(Mrs. R.K. Aulakh)

                       Member