Chandigarh to pay Rs 500 per day for electricity connection delay

Now, the UT Electricity Department will have to pay a fine of Rs 500 per day for the delay in releasing an electricity connection.

Taking a tough stand against a lackadaisical attitude of officials, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has directed the Electricity Department to release the electric connection within a period of seven days of application completed in all respect instead of 16 days earlier as per prevailing rules for new connections. Moreover, the commission has also applied the condition that “if the department fails to supply electricity within the time limit of seven days, it will be liable to a penalty not exceeding Rs 500 for each day of default.”

The JERC has also given relief with regard to EV charging stations. Now, connection exceeding 100 KW to 150 KW for EV charging stations can be given on low tension (LT) three-phase supply instead of high tension (HT) supply as per the prevailing rules.

The directions were issued by the commission in the third amendment to Supply Code, 2018, notified recently after repeated objections raised by Indian Citizens’ Forum (ICF) during the ‘public hearing’ held here on June 24.

Forum president SK Nayar stated that it was a welcome step as there were delays in getting power connection. “The JERC has now made the necessary amendments in the interests of consumers of Chandigarh,” he said.

The commission had recently approved an increase of 9.40% in the power tariff. The Electricity Department had proposed an average increase of nearly 19.44% in the existing power tariff of all categories. The new tariff became applicable from August 1.

According to the order, in the domestic category, the JERC had approved a hike of fixed charge from Rs 15 to 30 per month.

In the slab of 0-150 kWh (unit), the tariff per unit continued to remain Rs 2.75. But in the slab of 151-400 kWh per month, the tariff has been increased from Rs 4.25 per unit to Rs 4.80 per unit.

For the slab above 400 kWh per month, the tariff approved is from Rs 4.65 per kWh to Rs 5.40 per unit. In the HT domestic category, the tariff has been increased from Rs 4.30 per unit to Rs 4.90 per unit.

For commercial and non-residential building category, the major tariff change has been in the slab above 400 kWh per month where the tariff has been approved from Rs 5 per unit to Rs 5.90 per unit. As per the proposal put up by UT, in the domestic category, the department had proposed a hike in fixed charge from Rs 15 per month to Rs 40 per month.