Power body fined Rs 5K for inconveniencing Sonepat resident
Chandigarh, July 8
The Haryana Right to Service Commission has directed the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) in Sonipat to compensate a consumer, Radhey Sham, with Rs 5,000 from Nigam funds. The penalty was imposed for causing unnecessary inconvenience to the consumer and requiring him to visit the SDO office multiple times.
A spokesperson provided information about the case, stating that the complainant, Radhey Sham, had filed a complaint with the UHBVN in Sonipat due his electricity meter showing ‘inaccurate readings’. An investigation revealed that the reader had been taking inaccurate readings for a long time.
On January 28, 2023, UHBVN replaced the meter and sent the old one to the M&T Lab in Rohtak for examination, which, however, revealed that the readings on the meter display were accurate.
On February 20, a similar complaint was received through the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) under the name of Gaurav Mittal, Radhey Shyam’s son. At this, the Commission intervened asking the SDO to send the meter to the manufacturing firm for data retrieval, results of which were provided on April 3, with a reading of 35,435 kWh.
The meter’s earlier reading of 75,435 kWh was clearly inaccurate. Furthermore, on March 29, the CGRF determined that the SDO’s overhauling was appropriate. Following a hearing before the Commission’s chief, TC Gupta, the SDO was instructed to correct the consumer’s bill within 15 days.
