Haryana Right to Service Commission fines UHBVN Rs 15,500

Chandigarh –  Haryana Right to Service Commission has imposed a fine on the Kurukshetra office of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (UHBVNL) of Rs.15,500. This fine is imposed for issuing an incorrect bill to a consumer, causing trouble without any fault, and failing to provide service within the stipulated time limit.

Sharing information in this regard, spokesperson of the Nigam said that consumer, Sultan Singh, filed a complaint about the incorrect bill on January 21, 2024, at the Kurukshetra office of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. He stated that he had been paying his bills on time but received a bill of Rs. 1,11,008.99 for the period from November 1, 2022, to July 20, 2023, in August 2023. He complained about this bill at the SDO office in Kurukshetra, but despite several visits, his issue remained unresolved.

The matter was then taken to the commission. The Chief Commissioner heard the case and found that this was another instance where the UHBVN, while claiming to be an ‘A’ plus category power utility in the integrated rating of DISCOMs, had caused unnecessary trouble to the consumer. The corporation was causing problems for consumers without any fault of their own. If they monitored the situation periodically, they could take corrective actions, said the spokesperson.

The Commission said that it is expected that in such cases, the UHBVN MD will form a senior officers team to not only monitor the bills where metres are correct but also take concrete steps to eliminate long-term incorrect billing on an average basis where bills have R-1 or F codes.

The commission stated that consumers had been receiving incorrect bills for a long time, which the UHBVN officers had also acknowledged. Taking cognizance of the serious lapse in the delivery of a notified service, the commission imposed a fine of Rs.1,000 per bi-monthly bill, amounting to Rs. 15,500 for 31 months of incorrect bills. The fine amount is to be given to the consumer.

The commission’s order stated that this amount should either be adjusted in the consumer’s account by the UHBVN from its funds or recovered from the officers responsible for the lapses in this matter.