Consumer Forum orders Telangana State Southern Power Distribution to pay Rs 1.7 lakhs

HYDERABAD: The TSSPDCL (Greater Hyderabad Area) Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum has directed the authorities to withdraw a back billing case involving an amount of Rs 1,77,059 within 15 days, and any payment made by the Consumer with regard to the case may be adjusted in the Consumer's future bills.

The Forum also directed that the Consumer's service category be changed from LT-Cat-VIII to LT-Cat-II immediately and that any bills raised under LT-Cat-VII against the consumer's service connection be revised under LT-Cat-II and that the compliance report be filed along with the consumer’s satisfactory letter.

Complainant Rama Subramanian Ashok Swamynathan, an authorised Signatory of Sterling Villas Owners Welfare Association, Gundlapochampally, Medchal District, filed a Grievance Complaint with the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum, claiming that the allegations mentioned in a notice dated March 31, 2022, were false.

During the hearing, the complainant said that they have two Sterling Villas Owners Association service connections, one of which was utilised for street lighting, water supply, CCTV, and 91 Villas common electrical usages.

Another Sterling Avenues Private Limited utility connection was employed for building multi-storey apartments in Category-VIII. That the respondents registered a back billings case against one meter by altering the category to LT-Cat-VIII, temporary supply from LT-Cat-II, which is illegal and arbitrary.

The respondents' main contention was that after changing the title and category against the Consumer's service connection, the service was inspected by the Divisional Engineer, who discovered that the supply of service connection was being used for the construction of a multi-storey building, despite the fact that the service is in the commercial category.

As a result, the inspecting officer suggested back billing from December 10, 2020 to March 25, 2022, at a cost of `1,77,059.

After paying the aforementioned back billing amount or registering an objection with DE/OP/Medchal, the Consumer has filed this Complaint with the Forum. After reviewing all of the evidence, the forum issued an order in favour of the complainant