Then BEST issued a demand notice of over Rs4 lakh to the forum, including power bills from January 2009 to June 2011. The forum challenged this in 2013.
Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court rejected a petition filed by the Malabar Hill Citizens' Forum, seeking waiver of electricity bills of a sports complex in South Bombay's Priyadarshani Park as "it was being operated on a non-profit basis". The forum had adopted the park from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 1987.
Priyadarshani Park is divided in to two parts – one is a public garden and the other is a sports complex comprising of a running track and other facilities. Three electricity meters have been installed in the entire garden. BEST has put the garden's electricity consumption under the category of street lighting or public park. The other two meters that supply power to the sports complex, however, have been put in the category of non-residential-commercial.
Then BEST issued a demand notice of over Rs4 lakh to the forum, including power bills from January 2009 to June 2011. The forum challenged this in 2013.
The forum's argument was that all three meters were being used in common public places and for public services, and should be categorised as LT-VI (street lights/public park). BEST opposed the plea, stating that the entry to the sports complex was restricted to the trust members who paid a fee, and thus the activities were commercial in nature.
After considering all facts on record, the court said, "The categorisation of electricity tariff is on the basis of usage and not the terms of usage. If a gymnasium uses electricity, it is the usage for running a gymnasium, irrespective of the terms of such usage, namely, whether for a charge or not and whether on a profit motive or no-profit principle. This usage clearly falls within the non-residential or commercial category. A non-residential or commercial establishment, for the purpose of electricity, does not cease to be non-residential or commercial if it is run on a no-profit basis." Accordingly, the forum's petition was dismissed.
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