The Hindu : New Delhi News : New regulation to make discoms self-regulatory

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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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New regulation to make discoms self-regulatory

Staff Reporter

DERC orders them to pay consumers for poor service

‘We noticed that the discoms have not been paying compensation to consumers’
‘Ideally all grievances should be registered and resolved at call centres’

NEW DELHI: The Capital’s power distribution companies which fail to meet the guaranteed standards of performance, that is if they fail to provide services within the stipulated time-frame, they would now have to make suo motu payment to electricity consumers as penalty for their poor performance.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has directed the power distribution companies to pay penalties to consumers without waiting for them to file applications seeking compensation for delay in discharge of service.

The new regulation is part of DERC’s drive to make the discoms more “self-regulatory”.

“We noticed that the discoms have not been paying compensation to consumers for delay in delivery of services like installation of meters, change of load and replacement of defective meters among others,” said a senior DERC official.

Compensation

The discoms’ explanation that the consumers have not sought compensation, has failed to cut ice with DERC.

The Commission has asked the discoms to adhere to the rules for compensating consumers laid down in the Delhi Electricity Supply Code and Performance Standards Regulations, 2007.

The performance standards specify the maximum time limit for carrying out services and the penalty that the discoms will have to pay for failing to meet the guidelines. “The consumers should not have to write to the discoms or make petitions. If the discoms have been lax in meeting the requirement of the consumers, they should volunteer to pay the penalty specified in the DERC performance standards,” the official explained. After reviewing the performance of the discoms the Commission has also asked the companies to ensure that the call centres and Consumer Grievance Redress Forums (CGRF) are the “first point of contact” between the service provider and the customer.

“Each discom has a call centre and a CGRF. Ideally all grievances should be registered and resolved at these centres. The discoms should ensure that the call centres are equipped with the necessary wherewithal to meet the consumers’ needs,” the DERC official said.

“The Commission has also asked the discoms to develop software which can identify consumers and record all the necessary information related to them for future use,” the official pointed out.

Grievances

Consumers in the Capital can register their grievances with the call centres and the CGRFs run by the discoms apart from the Public Grievance Cells set up by the Delhi Government’s Power Department.

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