After over 1,000 families of Noida’s Amrapali Sapphire society launched a campaign against meter tampering, the Noida electricity department issued a show-cause notice to Amrapali for violating the Electricity Supply Code and Tariff orders of the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC).
Acting on the orders of the UPERC, the executive engineer of Noida substation III, Pankaj Goyal served a notice to Amrapali on Thursday. This order came after a two member team looked into the complaint by residents. The residents had accused the Amrapali management, led by Maintenance CEO Rohanish Singh, of tampering the pre paid electric meter and illegally withdrawing other society charges from these meters. Residents also say the builder was grossly overcharging residents for electricity, which is against the UPERC regulations.
“We are thankful that the authorities reacted swiftly to our complaints and found that the builder was charging four times the authorised rates,” said a retired railway official staying in the society.
In its notice, the electricity department has said it is clear prima facie that Amrapali Sapphire builder is charging 10 per cent above the published rate schedule of the power corporation. The builder has been asked by the department to respond to the notice by Saturday (June 18).
Earlier, residents approached the SSP of Noida Dharmendra Yadav, and asked him to file an FIR as this was criminal negligence. However, the police refused to file the FIR. “We are subjected to relentless pressure and harassment by the builder. This is a clear case of cheating and corruption. Now that an inquiry by the electricity department has found gross irregularities prima facie, the police must lodge an FIR against the builder,” said a retired IPS officer, who is also a resident. The UPPNL is also sending a report to the UPREC about the irregularities found during the inquiry.