Treat as representation plea against method of calculating electricity bills: Delhi HC

A public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the method adopted by BSES Yamuna and BSES Power Ltd for calculating the cumulative electricity consumption charges during the lockdown was on Friday disposed of by the Delhi High Court with directions that it shall be treated as a representation by appropriate authorities.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan while hearing the matter said, "all persons are not poor, some are having malls, etc. Why are you worrying about their bills?"

The High Court also noted that the Delhi Electricity Regularity Commission has not been made a party in the petition.

The petition, filed by Dr Vijay Mahajan through advocate Tushar Mahajan, said that the method adopted by respondents has cast a burden on all the poor and middle-class residents of Delhi as the mere applying of the method has resulted in an automatic increase in their electricity bills by at least 5-15 per cent for each month especially during the months of March and April, etc, per consumer depending upon their individual consumption.

The petition further challenged the entire demand of the cumulative electricity consumption charges "raised by respondents" all at once for being contrary to Regulation 38 Sub-Regulation 8 of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission.

It alleged that the respondents failed to comply with the mandatory requirement of informing the residents of Delhi that they had the option to pay their electricity bill for consecutive billing cycles in monthly installments based upon the number of the billing cycles upon which their bill was raised.

Having been forced to pay the bills for consecutive billing cycles all at once has further resulted in an additional financial burden on the residents of Delhi who were already suffering during the prevalent pandemic, the plea said.

It also claimed that the petition had written a private complaint to the respondent raising his grievances, however, in their email response dated August 6, 2020, the respondent has informed the petitioner that the method adopted by them for calculating the electricity charges during the lockdown period is correct and is in accordance the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Supply Code and Performance Standards) Regulations, 2017.

( With inputs from ANI )