Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has levied a penalty of ₹1 lakh on Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), for non-compliance of its direction to pay compensation to a consumer group for delay in service connection.
Coimbatore Consumer Cause had moved a petition seeking to impose penalty on TANGEDCO for alleged deliberate disobedience of the Commission’s order. The Commission had ordered payment of compensation on 2.8.2009.
The compensation was for the period from 01-01-2007 to 31-08-2007, for inordinate delay in effecting service connection for want of meters. The Group said according to information obtained by it through RTI, the amount of compensation for 8 months in 2007 in the Coimbatore Region alone was ₹91.90 lakhs.
The focal point of the complaint is that there is violation of Regulation 22 of the Distribution Standards of performance Regulations (DSOP), warranting payment of compensation, which, however has not been paid in spite of the orders of the Commission, TNERC said.
TANGEDCO said it had to accord more priority on overcoming power crisis that existed then, which affected the entire public at large and the power crisis coupled with the meter shortage was the reason for the non-adherence to DSOP Regulations.
TNERC also rejected TANGEDCO’s reasoning that due to financial constraints it could not pay the compensation.
“On an examination of the material records produced before us, we find that the performance of the distribution licensee (TANGEDCO), in terms of its duty to effect service connection in time, to say the least, is far from satisfactory going by the inordinate delay,” it said.
TNERC also said it had long back allowed an arrangement for consumers to purchase the meter on their own in 2012, however a circular on this has been issued only recently.
TANGEDCO shall pay the fine within one month from the date of the order (29-10-2019) and recover it from the salary of the officials who were responsible for such violation during the relevant period, the order said.
It said the individual consumers are at liberty to approach TANGEDCO for compensation which shall be paid by the licensee as determined by the Commission in the DSOP Regulations.
