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High Court quashes electricity bills

Staff Reporter

BSES had sent them to two commercial consumers for drawing power in an allegedly fraudulent manner

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has quashed two electricity bills of more than Rs. 6 lakhs each which the private power transmission company BSES Rajdhani Power Limited here had sent to two commercial consumers for drawing power in an allegedly fraudulent manner in the Okhla Industrial Area of South Delhi.

The judgment came on two petitions by the two commercial consumers seeking quashing of the bills on the ground of their being illegal and without authority of law.

On an inspection of the two factories of the petitioners, the power transmission company found that they were drawing more than their sanctioned load of power.

The company sent two bills of Rs. 7 lakhs each to each of the petitioners. On receipt of the bills, the petitioners made the payments.

However, after some time the company sent two more bills of Rs. 6 lakhs to them. They then approach a Lok Adalat, and the latter directed the company not to disconnect their power connections provided they deposited Rs. 50,000 with it.

The petitioners deposited the money.

Counsel for the petitioners submitted that the second bills violated Section 26 (4) of the Electricity Bill Act, 2003, which says that if a consumer is found to be drawing power more than his or her sanctioned load the transmission company will send a provisional bill to him or her, and if the amount demanded is paid, the consumer cannot be subjected to any further liability or action on that score.

Counsel for the company in defence said that the first provisional bills were prepared and sent to the petitioners assuming that the factories operated 10 hours a day. Since the factory was later found to be operating 20 hours a day, the second provisional bills of Rs. 6 lakhs each were sent to each of the petitioners.

Mr. Justice Bhat rejected the company's contention and quashed the second provisional bills.

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