THE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, KOTTAYAM
Present:
Sri. Santhosh Kesavanath P., President
Smt. Bindhu M. Thomas, Member
Sri. K.N. Radhakrishnan, Member
CC No. 226/2010
Wednesday, the 30th day of March, 2011
Petitioner : M.S Paviyanose,
Mulavana House,
Mammood P.O
Changanacherry.
(By Adv. Sojan Paviyanose)
Vs.
Opposite parties : 1) The KSEB,
Vaidyuthi Bhavan,
Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram
reptd. by its Secretary.
2) The Assist. Exe. Engineer,
KSEB, Thengana.
O R D E R
Sri. Santhosh Kesavanath P., President
Case of the petitioner is filed on 17..9..2010 is as follows:
Petitioner is a domestic consumer of the second opposite party. According to the petitioner he is regularly paying the bills issued by the opposite party. On 30..8..2010 opposite party issued a bill to the petitioner for an amount of Rs. 3523/-. In the said bill opposite party showed an amount of Rs. 3132/- as arrear. Petitioner states that issuance of such a bill is without any basis and amounts to deficiency in service. So, petitioner prays for cancellation of the bill Dtd: 30..8..2010 for an amount of Rs. 2523/-. Petitioner claims Rs. 2,000/- as compensation and Rs. 1,000/- as cost of the proceedings.
Opposite party entered appearance and filed version in the form of an affidavit. According to the opposite party bill issued on 30..8..2010 is legal and valid. The meter of the petitioner was faulty and new meter was installed on 11/08 by
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replacing the faulty meter. Disputed short assessment bill is issued to the petitioner based on the 3 month average consumption , after the replacement of the faulty meter. According to the opposite party the consumption before the meter became faulty meter cannot be taken. So, bill is issued by taking average consumption after replacement of the faulty meter with a fault free meter. Opposite party prays for dismissal of the petition with their costs.
Points for determinations are:
i) Whether there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party?
ii) Relief and costs?
Evidence in this case consists of affidavit filed by both parties and Ext. A1 to
A4 documents on the side of the petitioner.
Point No. 1
The disputed bill Dtd: 30..8..2010 for an amount of Rs. 3523/- produced is marked as Ext. A1. In Ext. A1 there is no mention with regard to the fault with meter. Further more amount of Rs. 3132/- is shown as arrear. According to the petitioner the meter of the petitioner is not faulty . Petitioner in order to prove the contention produced the previous bill Dtd: 29..4..2010 the said document is marked as Ext. A2. In Ext. A2 the consumption of the petitioner is shown as 199 units and the bill amount is Rs. 382/-. The petitioner produced receipt for Rs. 432/- showing payment of the amount on 8..7..2010 said receipt is marked as Ext. A3. Petitioner produced the receipt Dtd: 22..3..2010 said document is marked as Ext. A4. From Ext. A2 to A4 document it can be seen that the consumption of the petitioner during the previous bill period are different. Further more opposite party has not produced any document to prove that the meter of the petitioner is faulty. According to the
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opposite party the meter of the petitioner was faulty from 8/06 to 11/08. As per regulation 33 (2) a faulty meter shall be replaced within one month from the date it become faulty. Here the opposite party has not replaced faulty meter as per regulation 33 (2). In our view act of the opposite party in issuing the disputed Ext. A1 bill amount to deficiency in service. So, point No. 1 is found accordingly.
Point No. 2
In view of the finding in point No. 1, petition is allowed. In the result the bill Dtd: 30..8..2010 for an amount of Rs. 3523/- issued by the opposite party is cancelled. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case no cost and compensation is ordered.
Dictated by me, transcribed by the Confidential Assistant, corrected by me and
pronounced in the Open Forum on this the 30th day of March, 2011.
Sri. Santhosh Kesavanath P., President Sd/-
Smt. Bindhu M. Thomas, Member Sd/-
Sri. K.N. Radhakrishnan, Member Sd/-
APPENDIX
Documents for the Petitioner
Ext. A1: Bill Dtd: 30..8..2010
Ext. A2: Bill Dtd: 29..4..2010
Ext. A3: Receipt Dtd: 8..7..2010
Ext. A4: Receipt Dtd: 2..3..2010
Documents for the opposite party
Nil.
By Order,
Senior Superintendent
