Orders recovery of older bill from salary of guilty officers and employees.
In a significant order, the internal grievance redressal forum (IGRF) of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL) has decided that the power utility cannot ask for payment of an electricity bill that is more than 2 years old, and has ordered recovery of the amount from the salary of MSEDCL officials concerned.
The case relates to a consumer, Dinesh Deo, who acquired a commercial power connection in Manmad in 2003. He did not get any bill from MSEDCL for several years, despite repeatedly asking for it.
The power utility sent him a bill in November 2007, of estimated power consumption. He continued to receive power bills of estimated consumption. Ultimately, he was given a power bill of Rs1.24 lakh in May 2011. In July the same year, his power supply was cut off for non-payment.
He paid Rs50,000 under protest and his power supply was resumed. Deo complained to the IGRF of Nashik rural circle of the MSEDCL.
Vivek Velankar, president of the Pune-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Sajag Nagrik Manch, guided Deo in this case. Velankar told DNA that the order was historic and should be treated as a precedent in the state.
The IGRF ruled that officials and employees of MSEDCL were at fault for not recovering the revenue for more than 7 years. It said the MSEDCL did not have the right to recover bills older than 24 months. Hence, Deo should be issued pending bill for the period of two years till April 2011 only, it added. It also ordered that expenses for power consumption of 11,315 units, between 2003 and 2009, be deducted from salaries of officials of the power utility responsible for the delay in billing.
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