Tangedco’s defunct meters fleece customers

This is in violation of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (TNERC) supply code.

As the State faced a shortage of single phase and three phase meters since last November, several electricity consumers received a shock when they were levied bills that could justify electricity consumption for summer months and not during monsoon or winter.

Multiple assistant engineers in the Tangedco told DT Next that once the meter is declared defective, the billing software takes the average of the highest of the two successive bi-monthly bills and generate the bill for the defective period. “We face the questions from the consumers for the inflated bills but for no fault of us,” the engineers said.

*Ramkumar, a resident of Madipakkam, said that he complained to the local electricity board office in October after noticing that there was no display in the power meter. “But no action was taken to replace the defective meter even after 30 days of filing a complaint. In the next billing cycle for the month of November, I was billed Rs 2,902 for the consumption of 670 units and further Rs 264 was levied as shortfall charges. When enquired with the assistant engineer in the local section office over excess billing, the official said the billing was done by taking an average of two successive bills of high value,” he said, adding that he has been billed excessively when compared to bills paid last year during the same period.

As per the regulation of TNERC, Tangedco should replace the meter within 30 days if it received a complaint from the consumer or it found the meter is defective or burnt.

TNERC supply code under section 11(2) states that in case of a defunct meter, the quantity of the electricity supplied during the period in question should be determined by taking the average of the electricity supplied during the preceding four months. But the rider for such a calculation is that the (weather) conditions regarding the use of electricity during those four months were not different from those which prevailed during the period in question. The pattern of energy consumption varies according to the weather condition. Usually, energy consumption would be high during the summer months, and it would come down during the monsoon and winter months.

In case of the variation in the condition in regard to use of electricity during the period, the article (5) of the supply code states that assessment “shall be made on the basis of any consecutive four months during the preceding twelve months, when the condition of working was similar to those in the period covered by the billing".

Unaware of the regulations, most of the consumers end up paying the bill raised by the utility. A few of the consumers who moved the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum against the excess billing and non-replacement of defective meters had got their meter replaced days after filing of the petition. “No action was taken on my complaint to the Assistant Engineer's office against the excess billing and non-replacement of the defective meters. Two days after my husband filed an online complaint with the CGRF in North Chennai, I got a call from the AE and the meter was replaced subsequently. After we insisted action on the excess billing, we got a refund of about Rs 2,700,” S Kalyani, a resident of Kolathur, said.

Federation of Anti-Corruption Teams India general secretary C Selvaraj said that Tangedco has failed to create awareness among the consumers to make use of the CGRF to address their grievances. He said that the Tangedco should replace the defective meter within 30 days of receiving a complaint. “As per the Tamil Nadu Electricity Distribution standards of Performance Regulations, Tangedco should pay a compensation of Rs 100 for each day of delay, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,000,” he said.

If no action was taken on their complaint with the AE within 10 days, the consumer should file a complaint before the CGRF. “The CGRF should give an order on the complaint within 60 days. If not, the consumer can approach Tamil Nadu Electricity Ombudsman,” he explained.

When asked, a senior Tangedco official said that if the consumer had billing dispute, they should give a written complaint to the AE office in their locality. “When there is no display in the meter, the software would generate the billing based on the two highest values. If the consumer raised any dispute in the billing, it is the duty of the AE to check the consumption pattern of the consumer and revise the bill in case the condition varies,” the official said.

(*Name changed)