Power consumers in the city, who have been befuddled by their exorbitant power bills for the past three months, may well take a closer look at the tariff calculation.
They might be paying for thrice their consumption, as a penalty for not obtaining the mandatory Occupancy Certificate (OC) from municipal authorities!
The Discom has recently got down to implementing the penalty clause of the Common Building Rules formulated by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development department years ago, and began to ‘penalise’ the consumers.
Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana State (TSSPDCL) officials say that since April 1 this year, new consumers without the OC are being ‘automatically’ served bills thrice their consumption, till they produce the certificate.
Software in the Customer Service Centres has been updated to differentiate new services based on their OC status, and bills, thrice the actual amount, are automatically generated for those not submitting the certificate, informed an official, seeking anonymity.
According to the building rules, the functional or line agencies dealing with electric power, water supply, drainage and sewerage shall not give regular connections to the building unless OC is produced, or alternatively, may charge three times the tariff till it is produced. This condition is applicable to all unauthorised constructions and buildings constructed without the sanctioned building plan.
However, the Discom chose to ignore the first option of denying connections, but rather opted for charging exorbitant tariffs, which is also an easy way of enhancing its revenues.
“Earlier, there was some ambiguity with regard to the penalty clause, and the discom was charging thrice the security deposit, a one-time payment. But a recent circular within the department has mandated to apply it to the monthly billing instead,” informed the official.
While officials maintain that the rule is being applied only to new connections, older consumers too are complaining of higher bills, arbitrarily charged.
“We are getting billed for twice the consumption. When we sought clarification, officials said OC was missing. Our builder collected huge amounts from us when Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) was on.
Now we are clueless where the money has gone,” rued Krishna Reddy, a consumer from Gachibowli who purchased the house in 2009.
