Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum Northern Region, Kozhikode
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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 BEENA GOPINATH. S : CHAIRPERSON LEKHA RANI R : MEMBER II OP NO.45/2019-20 PETITIONER :- 1. The Secretary, KMKPCMS Ltd., Thiruvambady, Thiruvambady – P.O., Kozhikode – 673 603. RESPONDENTS :- 1. Assistant Executive Engineer, Electrical Sub Division, KSEB Ltd, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode District. 2. Assistant Engineer, Electrical Section, KSEB Ltd., Thiruvambady, Kozhikode District. ORDER Case of the Petitioner:- The petitioner, Secretary, The Kerala Malanadu Karshaka Produce Co-Operative Marketing Society Ltd., No. F 1777 under the jurisdiction of Electrical Section Thiruvambady complains having been issued with an exorbitant arrear bill to the tune of Rs.1,28,235/- in connection with/in pursuant of an inspection conducted by APTS, Kozhikode. The bills issued are said to be of 10/2018 and 11/2018 and the amount due is corresponding to that of short assessment bills. On the other hand the bills for the period from 10/2018 and 11/2018 were already remitted as Rs. 67,546/- and Rs. 59,636/- respectively. It is argued that applying the wrong methodology in computation, the amount so arrived is not in commensuration with the actual consumption. Though the Assistant Engineer concerned is intimated regarding the error, the reply did not contain the veracity of methodology applied in arriving the amount demanded. The Society is still under strong belief that the licensee is somewhere erroneous in computing the bill. The reason speculated to the above is that no considerable hike of consumption was noticed even after the replacement of old meter. This can be verified from the fact of production data of the society. Hence it is informed that the regular bills are remitted based on the existing available reading and no excess consumption whatsoever is noticed. Therefore it is requested to re-examine/reconsider the issue and sympathetically view the complaint so as to mitigate/alleviate the woes 2 of the society which is acting as the back bone of the agricultural farms in general and the farmers in particular. Version by the respondent;- The petitioner, The Secretary KMKPCMS Ltd., is an LT IV consumer with consumer No. 1166099003093 under electrical section Thiruvambady. The Anti Power Theft Squad Kozhikode along with the officials of electrical section Thiruvambady has conducted an inspection in the premises of the consumer on 21/11/2018. During the inspection it was observed that R phase and B phase voltage were missing at the meter due to burning of voltage wire tapping. On detailed inspection and calibration with a standard meter connected in series with the consumer meter it was observed that 61 percentage of the consumption was not recording in the meter installed in the premises of consumer due to the missing of voltage thereby the consumer was being undercharged causing revenue loss to K.S.E.B Ltd. The said meter was removed from service on 23-11-2018 and sent for testing at the testing lab of KSEB at TMR Kannur. As per the report dated 18-12-2018 of the Assistant Executive Engineer, TMR Kannur the error in the meter is beyond the permissible limit and the meter has recorded tamper ‘current without voltage, which clearly shows that the consumer has used the electricity in the three phases even though the voltage was not reaching the meter in 2 of the phases. Hence the meter was recording the consumption of the consumer in one phase only. 3 Noting the defect, site mahazar was prepared at site by the competent officer and the meter was sent to the approved laboratory of KSEB L at TMR Kannur. On testing at the lab, it was conformed that the meter has recorded a tamper ‘current without voltage’ which occurred and the consumer continued to use his load normally even when the two of the voltages were not reaching the meter terminals. It is evident from the field testing report that at the time of inspection the meter was recording 61% less than the actual consumption. Even though, as per Regulation 115 of the Kerala State Electricity Supply Code 2014, the licensee can assess for 6 six months in case of meter found inaccurate during lab testing, KSEBL has given a short assessment bill to recover the unrecorded portion for only two billing cycles. Here the short assessment was computed based on the error detected during the field test with the standard meter which was found as 61%. This short assessment bill was served for the months 10/2018 and 11/2018 only and hence the bill of Rs. 1,28,235/- served to the consumer is in order and is liable to be paid by the consumer. The statement of the consumer that KSEB L has not provided him the calculation details is not correct. The petitioner has already been served the details showing the calculation and calculation statement. Letter dated 25-05-2019 and calculation sheet dated 18-5-2019 which clearly indicates the shortage in the bill already demanded. The short assessment bill issued by the Assistant Engineer, Electrical section Thiruvambady is in order and is correct and KSEBL has not committed any mistake. The calculation is done based on the detailed 4 inspection and findings using standard reference meter and the bill is issued accordingly as per the provisions of Kerala Electricity Supply Code 2014. The inspection was carried out by the Anti Power Theft Squad Kozhikode wing of KSEBL along with the officials of Electrical section Thiruvambady inspection authority of KSEBL. As per the regulation 134(1) “ 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 30 days shall be given to the consumer for making payment of the bill”. Hence the licensee has the right to recover the undercharged portion of energy from the consumer. Also as per regulation 115(9) “in cases the meter is found to be faulty, revision of bill on the basis of the test report shall be done for a maximum period of six months or from the date of last testing, whichever is shorter and the excess or deficit charges on account of such revision shall be adjusted in the two subsequent bills”. Here the KSEBL has acted strictly in accordance with provisions of supply code and the bill issued is in order. Considering the above facts, this Hon’ble Forum may kindly confirm the short assessment bill issued to the petitioner consumer and direct the consumer to remit the amount. Hence the bill issued is true and correct. Discussion, analysis and findings:- Hearing of the case was convened on 22/08/2019. The petitioner and the respondent attended the hearing. 5 Having considered all the documents submitted and the deliberations during the hearing, the forum has come to the following conclusions leading to the decision;- The petitioner is LT 4 consumer with the connected load 109 KW, running a Plant for coconut oil production and allied works. A bill amounting to Rs.1,28,235/- was issued to the consumer on 20/02/2019 by the respondent based upon an inspection conducted by APTS squad on 21/11/2018. During inspection it was revealed that ‘R’ phase and ‘B’ phase voltage input to the meter was missing due to the burning of contact wire. A reference meter connected in the premises and from the reading of the reference meter it is observed that 61% of the actual consumption was not recording in the meter installed in the consumer premises. Based on that the respondent reassessed the consumer for month 10/2018 and 11/2018 adding the missing percentage of consumption to the recorded consumption. The recorded consumption for the months 10/2018 and 11/2018 is reported by the respondent are as given below: Month Recorded consumption 10/2018 13190 units 11/2018 13126 The petitioner aggrieved against the demand based on the calculation as above, stated that the demand is erroneous and their monthly consumption can never go as high as the reassessment done by the licensee. It will be clear from the consumption pattern when it is analysed. 6 From the site mahazar it is revealed that standard reference meter is connected with the disputed meter and checked the reading for a short period on both meters. The consumer meter recorded 400 Wh and the reference meter recorded 1036 wh. The energy loss factor is 636/1036 (61%). The testing only reflected the recording status for a particular short period and that can be the reason for huge variation in reassessed consumption based on the loss factor arrived at the time of inspection and the recorded consumption after meter replacement. The petitioner also stated that their working pattern and the energy consumption is almost consistent. Feeling suspicion on the recorded consumption as noted in the letter dated 18/05/2019 by the Assistant Engineer, Electrical section Thiruvambady which is reported as correct by the respondent is verified by the Forum with the consumer profile. The consumption pattern reported by the respondent is as follows: Month consumption in units. 10/2018 13190 11/2018 13126 (Meter replaced on 23.11.2018) 12/2018 10548 01/2019 16528 02/2019 15558 The Forum analysed the consumption pattern from consumer profile which is as follows: 7 Consumption for the Month 10/2018 5560 units Average of 10/2018 & 11/2018 4392 units 11/2018 - 4976 units 12/2018 7028 units 01/2019 6616 units Average of 12/2018 to 02/2019 5420 units 3/2019 - 5971 units 03/2019 4820 units The consumption pattern of the petitioner from 01/2018 to 06/2018 is also analyzed from the consumer profile which showed average monthly consumption as units – 4379 units.