10 times compensation to consumers in case of false power theft cases

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday asked the power department to expedite the implementation of the directions issued by the department to the DERC on paying compensation to the consumers over false power theft cases.

Kejriwal enquired about the delay in the implementation and asked the officials of the department to talk to the DERC and get it expedited which will in turn send a relief to the people of Delhi. Earlier, the government had decided to pay consumers 10-times the amount if they are falsely charged with power theft.

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) was directed by the power department to implement the orders for the good of the consumers.

“A compensation to the tune of ten times has to be paid by the power companies to the aggrieved consumer in case of penalty charges over false charges of power theft,” said a senior government’s official.

“Power companies will have to pay the fine directly to the consumer. This was communicated to the DERC through a notification issued by the Delhi government earlier,” said a power department official.

According to the notification which was issued by the Delhi government, there are numerous consumer complaints whereby they are wrongly accused of power theft under Section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003. Similar such complaints have also been received by various MLAs across Delhi.

In addition to this, cases related to power theft have been dismissed by the Civil and Special Courts numerous times. However, the whole process of getting justice takes away a good amount of time and money of the consumers.

According to the notification, DERC will depute senior officials to give requisite permissions required to carry out inspections of discoms wherever cases of power theft and misuse have been reported.