Discoms stare at hefty fines for unscheduled power cuts in Delhi

 The Discoms will have to automatically adjust the compensation amounts in the electricity bills of the affected power consumers within 90 days.

“In case of unscheduled power cut affecting more than 50 power connections, the supply shall be restored within one hour. After that, the concerned  Discom shall have to pay a penalty of Rs 50 per hour per consumer for the first two hours and 100 per hour per consumer thereafter,’ said Satyender Kumar Jain, Delhi Power Minister announcing the decision. The only exception to the penalty clause is ‘force majeure conditions’.

The government has also directed DERC to prepare a list of scheduled power cuts 15 days in advance and display it on its website. “We will tally the complaints of power cuts in an area with the DERC list. If it does not match with the DERC list, the power cut will be considered as <g data-gr-id="34">unscheduld</g>. The DERC is also required to update the list of scheduled power <g data-gr-id="60">cuts,”added</g> Jain. 

These directions were issued to DERC by the Delhi government under section 108 of the Electricity Act 2003.

The provision of penalty has also been made in case of individual power consumers. “In case of disruption of power of an individual consumer the supply shall be restored within three hours of the complaint, failing to which the concerned Discom will have to cough up  a penalty of Rs 100 per hour,”  the power minister explained.  

“The Discoms shall automatically adjust this compensation into the current and future electricity bills within 90 days. After this <g data-gr-id="36">period</g> the aggrieved consumer can approach DERC or Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) to claim compensation. These bodies shall order the Discoms to pay a minimum of Rs 5,000 or five times the due compensation amount, to the consumer,” added Jain. 

The government has also directed DERC to keep record of all scheduled power cuts and individual complaint cases to decide the claims by power consumers.