Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum Northern Region, Kozhikode

CONSUMER GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL FORUM NORTHERN REGION, KOZHIKODE. (Formed under section 42(5) of Electricity Act 2003.) Vydyuthibhavan, Gandhi Road, Kozhikode - 673011 Telephone Number - 0495 2367820 [email protected] PRESENT MEENA. S : CHAIRPERSON MANOJAN . P.P : MEMBER II ROBIN PETER : MEMBER III OP NO.214/2017-18 PETITIONER : - 1. Registrar, Central University of Kerala, Thejaswini Hills, Periye-P.O., Kasaragod District, Pin – 671 316. RESPONDENTS :- 1. Assistant Executive Engineer, Electrical Sub Division, KSEB Ltd, Cherkala, Kasaragod District . 2. Assistant Engineer, Electrical Section, KSEB Ltd., Cherkala, Chengala – P.O., Kasaragod District -671541. ORDER Case of the Petitioner:- The petitioner is the Registrar of the Central University of Kerala. The University comes under the jurisdiction of Electrical Section, Cherkala, (Kasaragod District). University has availed an electrical supply to the premises with a connected load of 89 KW at LT 6A tariff with consumer No.1166891028677 under Cherkala Electrical Section in Kasaragod District. On 18th August 2017 the APTS wing of KSEB Ltd., conducted a surprise inspection at the metering panel and associated equipments installed at this campus and claimed that the R-phase CT installed was faulty. This CT to meter wring was done by KSEB and the CT and meter compartments remains sealed by KSEB itself from the date of availing supply, and as a consumer, the University or its staff do not have any access to the meter or metering equipments. Thereafter, the Licensee issued a short assessment bill amounting to Rs.35,662/- on 11th September 2017 .According to the licensee the above short assessment was the under charged portion of revenue @ 37.5% of the total consumption for the period of six months (03/2017 to 08/2017). In addition to this the Assistant Engineer of the Licensee demanded to rectify the CT within 15 days .Consequently, the Engineering wing of the university visited the site and observed that the connection in the R- phase CT terminal was oxidized which was considered to be the reason 2 for the poor contact. After cleaning the contact the CT was found working properly and current was reading in the meter. On reporting the above fact ,the Assistant Engineer of the Licensee visited the site and verified the same. Later, the petitioner filed an objection against the short assessment bill. The licensee revised the bill from Rs.35,662/- to Rs.31,400/- by reducing the period from 6 months to 5 months and the University remitted the entire amount in order to avoid disconnection of supply. The petitioner alleges that the licensee failed to remove the ambiguity regarding the exact period from which the CT of R phase became faulty. It is alleged that the licensee did not give any opportunity to file review appeal against the final order issued by the assessing officer. The above matter was brought to the notice of the licensee as per letter dated 21-11-2017 and the intention of the University to file appeal before Kerala State Electricity Appellate Authority was also expressed. Thereafter the University filed appeal before the Hon’ble Kerala State Electricity Appellate Authority after remitting the required fee of Rs. 628/-. In the Order dated 05/02/2018 proclaimed by the Appellate Authority, the petitioner was directed to approach the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum, Northern Region, and Kozhikode as the case was not related to Section 126 of Electricity Act 2003. The petitioner therefore approaches the Forum and prays to cancel the entire short assessment bill amounting to Rs. 31,400/- and to refund the amount on the basis of the facts explained above. 3 Version by the Respondent:- The Registrar, Central University of Kerala, Thejashwini Hills, Periya, Premises at Vidyanagar Naimarmoole is a consumer under electrical section Cherkala with consumer No.1166891028677, the service connection is in 6A tariff. The Registered connected load of the Three phase CT connected service connection is 88685 watts (89KW). Surprise inspection was conducted by the APTS wing and section staff at the premises of petitioner and collected the data from the petitioner’s energy meter. The voltages in R,Y,B phases were 239 V, 233V, 245V respectively. The current in R,Y,B phases were 0 A, 1.41 A, 1.13 A respectively. Further the CT coil was tested using clamp on meter, R phase CT primary 19.16A & Secondary “0”Amps, Y phase CT primary 30.36A Secondary 1.41A, B phase CT primary 21.75A secondary 1.13A. Then further clarification with a moving test meter showed the following:- Consumer Meter - 11273.7 Moving Test meter - 0 Consumer meter - 11273.8 Moving Test meter – 3.2 It is noted that consumer meter KWH – 0.1 x20(MF) = 2 units and moving test meter KWH is 3.2. This is the 37.5% short. On downloading the data from the meter using optical port it is found that R phase CT missing for the period of 147 days. It is submitted that the service connection was provided with a Current Transformer with CT ratio 100/5A. The reading recorded in the meter should be multiplied with a multiplication factor (20) to obtain the energy used .The reading recorded in the meter will be corresponding to the voltage and current drawn in the meter, which 4 measured through CT. Missing of CT terminal will fail to record the corresponding current utilized in the premises. As per Clause 134 of Kerala Electricity Supply Code 2014 if the licensee establishes either by review or otherwise, that it has undercharged the consumer, the licensee may recover the amount so undercharged from the consumer by issuing a bill and in such cases at least thirty days shall be given to the consumer for making payment of the bill. It is argued that no penalty is imposed in this case for the missing of CT connection since missing of CT terminal due to a loose contact was not intentional. It is stated that neither the licensee nor the consumer is responsible for above incident. But it is a fact that the consumer has consumed energy during this period and the short assessment bill issued is only for the portion of non recorded consumption in the meter. Discussion, analysis and findings:- Hearing of the case was convened on 10/04/2018. The case is related to a short assessment amounting Rs.31,400/- issued by the licensee. As per the provisional bill, the bill amount was Rs.35,662/-. Later the amount was revised to Rs. 31,400/- by reducing the short assessment period from six months to Five months. The above disparity was brought to light consequent to APTS inspection conducted at the premises of the petitioner on 18/08/2017. The findings of the APTS was that the R phase CT installed at the metering point was faulty as R phase current displayed in the meter during the inspection showed 0.00A. On the other hand, the Y phase and the B phase recorded 1.41 A 5 and 1.13A respectively. Though the primary of CT connected in R phase showed 19.16A the corresponding secondary showed 0.00A. According to the licensee the actual reading in the meter/metering equipment establishes only if the secondary current in the CTs of R,Y,B phases and respective potential voltage in the terminal remains in correct values. An under charged consumption to the tune of 37.5% was revealed after the testing of the meter with a 3 phase reference standard moving Test meter. The licensee also downloaded the data from the optical port attached to the meter in order to establish the exact point from which the CT stopped functioning. It is observed that the licensee computed the final short assessment bill from 03/2017 to 07/2017. The amount re assessed is Rs. 31,400/-(Electricity charge:-28,545/- + Ele. Duty = 2,855/-). The petitioner remitted the above bill amount in order to avoid disconnection. It is also alleged that the licensee denied opportunity to review the final order before recovering such sum from the petitioner. Aggrieved by the stance of the licensee, they preferred appeal before the Hon’ble Kerala State Electricity Appellate Authority and in the order dated 05/02/2018, the Authority ordered to file a complaint before the CGRF as the subject matter is not under Section 126 of Electricity Act 2003. The petitioner filed this complaint in pursuance of the above order. According to the petitioner the meter and the metering equipments remains sealed by the licensee and are checked regularly by the field officers of the licensee while taking meter reading. The University and its staff do not have any access to the meter and metering equipments. The petitioner states that the R phase CT terminal was oxidized and it is 6 considered as the reason for the poor contact and connected issues. The petitioner is not convinced by the computation based on the presumption of the licensee that the CT was not working for 6 months. The licensee is the custodian of the meter and metering equipments and imposing charges based on the omission occurred from their part cannot be justified. Having considered all the documents submitted and the deliberations during the hearing, the forum has come to the following conclusions leading to the decision;- 1) The request of the petitioner is to cancel the Short Assessment Bill issued for a period of 5months amounting Rs.31,400/- which was remitted by them on 9/10/2017. 2) The bill was issued on noticing that the consumption recorded in the meter is only 62.5% of the actual energy consumed in the premises due to the failure in recording consumption in R phase of the meter, following the defect of CT connected to that phase.

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