Haryana

Ambala

CC/207/2015

Vidyaratan - Complainant(s)

Versus

S.D.O. UHBVNL. - Opp.Party(s)

Daljeet Singh Punia

27 Apr 2016

ORDER

    BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMBALA.

                                                                                                     Complaint Case No. :  207 of 2015

                                                                                                     Date of Institution    :    31.07.2015

                                         Date of Decision       :     27.04.2016

Vidyaratan son of Sh. Hari Ram R/o VPO Mahmood Pur, District Ambala.

                                                      ……Complainant.

                                                                                            Versus

1.         Sub Divisional Officer (Op.) Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, Babyal, District Ambala.  

2.         Executive Engineer (OP), Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (UHBVNL),  12 Cross Road, Ambala Cantt.

 

……Opposite Parties

 

Complaint Under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act

 

CORAM:        SH. A.K. SARDANA, PRESIDENT.

                        SH. PUSHPENDER KUMAR, MEMBER.

                       

Present:          Sh. D.S. Punia, Adv.  counsel for complainant.

                        Sh. Sarvjeet Singh, Adv. counsel for Ops.

ORDER.

                        Complainant has filed the present complaint alleging therein that  he applied for a tubewell connection on 04.04.2007 vide receipt No.015540 with the OPs for the agricultural power supply and deposited a sum of Rs.14,000/- vide receipt No.056266 dated 04.04.2007 as cost of 2 spans. Thereafter, demand notice was issued by Ops wherein complainant deposited a sum of Rs.20,000/- vide receipt No.015085 dated 20.03.2009 & Rs.7000/- vide receipt No.066251 dated 06.03.2012 as cost of 1-span. Thereafter, complainant  visited the office of Ops continuously to install his agriculture tubewell connection but the Ops did not bother  rather asked  for some bribe for installation of the connection.  It has been further averred that complainant was shocked when he received bill No.00870 dated 11.11.2014 for Rs.567/- whereas no electricity connection was ever installed in his agricultural land and thereafter regular bills are being sent to the complainant.  So, complainant contacted the  Ops  but they assure that on payment of these bills, connection will be released to him and on this assurance, complainant deposited the electricity bills against account No. MP-31/1227-H. However, no electrical connection or equipments installed in his fields and thus a   complaint in this regard  was moved to OP No.1 on 19.06.2015 as well as to Chief Minister, Haryana but no action was taken by Ops. Thus the complainant has submitted that he has suffered substantial pains & agony and harassment at the hands of Ops and prayed for acceptance of complaint as per prayer clause.

2.                     Upon notice, OPs appeared through counsel and filed written statement raising preliminary objections qua non-maintainability of complaint and concealment of true facts rather urged the real facts are that that complainant applied for an electricity connection of Agricultural Power Category  vide application form No.63847/AP dated 04.04.2007 and the connection was ordered to be released vide SCO No. 44/1712 dated 04.01.2010 but the connection could not be installed on account  of resistance by the owner of the land across which the line was to be erected for the purpose of installation of electricity connection in the premises of the complainant. The resistance was made by Sh. Kaka Singh of village Mehtabgarh and Sh. Satish Kumar, Principal of a Private School in village Mehmoodpur. It has been further urged that the complainant was also found guilty of theft of electricity which was committed by him against electricity connection bearing account No.CH1-193/YD11-3225 on the basis of checking report i.e. LL-1 No.3/121 dated 06.04.2015 read with checking report of M&T Lab dated 10.04.2015 wherein the complainant was called upon to pay a sum of Rs.74,295/- vide order of assessment bearing Memo No.434 dated 18.05.2015 but the complainant has not deposited the said amount of assessment. As such, the complainant has become defaulter and as per the instructions of the Nigam, electricity connection cannot be released to a person, who is a defaulter of Nigam. So, the electricity connection in question cannot be installed until and unless the above-mentioned amount of Rs.74,295/- is deposited by the complainant with opposite parties.  On merits, it has been submitted by the Ops that electricity connection has been released to the complainant on turn key basis and in such like connections, the equipments are arranged/purchased by the applicant at his cost and only electricity connection is to be released by the Nigam by connecting the supply to the system of the Nigam with the installation made by the applicant.  In the instant case, the Ops tried to connect the installation of complainant with the supply system of the Nigam but the same was forcibly resisted by the persons stated above.  However,  billing commenced as the service connection order issued by the Ops regarding release of electricity connection was  mistakenly sent to the billing agency although the electricity connection could not be installed physically. However, no prejudice has been caused to the complainant since the complainant has not deposited even a single penny against the electricity bills issued by the Ops on account of mistake. Further it has been submitted that the Ops were always ready and willing to release the electricity connection to the complainant and for the purpose of installing the electricity connection, the Ops had transported the necessary material at the site in the year 2010 itself and the material is lying at the site ever since and prayed for dismissal of the complaint with costs.

3.                     To prove his contention, counsel for complainant tendered affidavit of complainant as Annexure CX alongwith documents as Annexures C-1 to C-12 and closed his evidence whereas on the other hand, OP’s counsel tendered affidavit of Surinder Kumar, the then SDO (Op.) UHBVNL, Babyal as Annexure R-X and documents as Annexures R-1 to R-3 and closed the evidence on behalf of Ops.

4.                     We have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the record very minutely. The main grievance of the complainant is that he applied for  electricity connection for Agriculture Power with the OP  and got deposited requisite fees but the connection  has not been installed by Ops till date though bills are being sent by Ops which were paid by him. Thus the complainant has contended that the act of Ops is admittedly  a deficiency in service as well as  unfair trade practice and prayed  that Ops be directed to install  the electricity connection at the earliest and not to raise electricity bill till installation and to pay compensation for harassment etc. The counsel for complainant drew our attention towards Section 43 of Indian Electricity Act, 2003 which is reproduced as under:-

“Duty to supply on request (1) [Save as otherwise provided in this Act] every distribution licensee, shall, on an application by the owner or occupier of any premises, give supply of electricity to such premises, within one month after receipt of the application requiring such supply:” 

43(3)If a distribution licensee fails to supply the electricity within the period specified in sub-section (1), he shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to one thousand rupees for each day of default.

                        Further the counsel for the complainant has drawn our attention towards Instructions No.23 of Sales Manual of Ops wherein it is mentioned that-

“Grant of electric connection in the absence of consent from the landlord.  Clause 5-A,(iii) of the application and agreement form stipulates that if it has not been possible for a lawful occupier of the premises to obtain  consent of the landlord, he should agree to keep indemnified and harmless the supplier against all claims made and actions and proceedings taken by the landlord or any person claiming through or under him by reasons of the giving of the electric connection by the supplier. Accordingly an indemnity bond should be got executed on a stamp paper of the value of Rs.15/- from the prospective consumers in case they are unable to obtain the consent of their landlords.  However, stamping of indemnity bond need not be insisted upon from a domestic or commercial consumers.”

5.                     On the other hand, counsel for Ops admitted that complainant applied for the said connection vide application form No.63847/-AP dated 04.04.2007 and the connection  was ordered to be released vide SCO No.44/1712 dated 04.01.2010 but due to resistance by the owner of   the land across which  the line was to be erected for the purpose of installation of electricity connection in the premises of the complainant, electricity connection could not be installed.  Secondly, complainant was found guilty of theft of electricity and a sum of Rs.74295/- became due  against him as per assessment memo No.434 dated 18.05.2015 but the complainant has not deposited the said amount and has become defaulter and as per instructions of Nigam, the electricity connection cannot be released to a person who is defaulter of the Nigam.  

6.                     After hearing learned counsel for the parties and going through the record, it is clear from the copy of jamabandi marked as Annexure C-9 that the complainant is owner in possession of the land in which the tubewell is to be installed and complainant is seeking release of electricity connection for which he has duly applied to the Ops and paid necessary charges  during the years of 2007 to 2009 on demand of Ops but the Ops failed to install the connection due to the objections raised by the other adjoining land-owners.  From perusal of Section 43 of Electricity Act, 2003, it reveals that licensee, shall, on an application by the owner or occupier of any premises, give supply of electricity to such premises, within one month after receipt of the application requiring such supply otherwise he shall be liable to penalty as provided in this Act”. Further the Instructions No.23 of Sales Manual vide Clause 5-A (iii) of the OP-Nigam says that “if it has not been possible for a lawful occupier of the premises to obtain consent of the landlord he should agree to keep indemnified and harmless the supplier against all claims by executing an indemnity bond on a stamp paper of the value of Rs.15/-.”  In the present case, the complainant has made application to the Ops with necessary charges for release of electricity connection in the year 2007 to 2009  being co-owner of the land and also completed all the formalities as required by the Ops and at this stage, it is not justified for  Ops  to refuse releasing of electricity connection to complainant for not submitting NOC from other adjoining land-owners.  At the most, Ops can demand indemnity bond from the complainant as per requirement of instruction no.23 of their own Sales Manual. Further the plea taken by the Ops that complainant became  defaulter of Nigam in the year of 2015 against another electricity connection and as such, the tube well connection cannot be released to the applicant  being defaulter is not tenable since the complainant is entitled for electricity connection on the basis of his application & charges deposited in the year of 2007 to 2009 and said rider of Ops is not applicable to the present case of complainant wherein the tubewell connection was released by OP’s in the year of 2010 vide SCO No.44/1712. Further, the Ops have also admitted in their written statement that due to some mistake of the Nigam, electricity bills are being sent to the complainant by billing section which is admittedly a deficiency in service on the part of Ops.  As such, we have no hesitation in holding that the Ops are not only deficient  in providing proper services to the complainant by not installing connection at the tubewell of complainant being easementary  right rather guilty of committing unfair trade practice with the complaintant.

                        In view of the facts discussed above,  we allow the present complaint and direct the OPs to comply with the following directions within 30 days from the communication of this order:-

1. To  execute/effect the S.C.O. No.44/1712 dated 04.01.2010 by installing the tubewell connection in the fields of the complainant subject to furnishing of indemnity bond by complainant on a prescribed stamp paper to the Ops to the effect that in case of any loss/harm is caused to the Ops in installing of said connection, then he will indemnify the same.
2. To refund  the amount of electricity bills received by Ops from complainant against this S.C.O. no.44/1712 alongwith simple interest @ 12% per annum from the date of deposit to till realization.
3. To pay a sum of Rs.5000/- to the complainant on account of mental harassment, physical pain as well as litigation expenses etc.

                       

                        The aforesaid directions/order must be complied with by the OP’s within the stipulated period otherwise the complainant shall be entitled to get the same enforced under due provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. Copies of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of costs, as per rules. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.  

                                                                                                    

ANNOUNCED:27.04.2016

                                                                                                            Sd/-

                                                                                                  (A.K. SARDANA)

                                 PRESIDENT                

 

                                                                                            Sd/-

        (PUSHPENDER KUMAR)

                                                                                                            MEMBER