Legal points -

 Section 56 (2) of the electricity act, 2003 states that “ notwithstanding anything
contained in any other law for the time being in force, no sum due from any consumer
under this section shall be recoverable after the period of two years from the date
when such sum become first due unless such sum has been shown continuously as
recoverable as arrear of charges for electricity supplied and the licensee shall not cut
off electricity” – In the current case no arrears of sum was reflected in the bill of the
consumer hence the licensee cannot recover any sum as arrears.
 Section 163 of the electricity act, 2003 states that 24 hour notice has to be given
before seizure of the meter. – no such notice was given to the consumer which makes
such seizure illegal and arbitrary.
 Regulation 6.5 of the Standards of Performance of Distribution Licensees and
Determination of Compensation Regulations, 2020 states that:

Reconnection of supply following disconnection due to non payment of bills:

Where the Distribution Licensee has disconnected supply to a consumer for a period of not
more than six months, then if such consumer pays all amounts due and payable by him to the
Distribution Licensee or, in case of a dispute, pays such amount under protest, the
Distribution Licensee shall reconnect supply within—

(i) six (6) hours from the payment of dues by the consumer in urban areas;

(ii) twelve (12) hours from the payment of dues by the consumer in rural areas.

Provided that, where the period of disconnection exceeds six months, an application for
reconnection of supply shall, after either payment of amounts due or upon settlement of
dispute, be treated as a fresh application for supply of electricity under the provisions of the
Act.

The reconnection by the licensee was not done in the stipulated time frame.

 Regulation 7.3 of the same regulations states that “Licensee shall replace the non-
working (stuck up, running slow, fast or creeping) meter within three days in urban
areas and seven days in rural areas after its being so established on checking.”

However, even after repeated requests from the consumer that his meter is running fast, no
action was taken by the concerned SDO.

 Regulation 8.3 states that “Licensee shall ensure that at any point of time the
percentage of bills requiring modifications following complaints to the total number
of bills issued does not exceed 0.1%.
Provided that in case a wrong electricity bill for sale of power is issued by the licensee, the
same shall be corrected and a revised bill shall be issued to the consumer by the SDO in-
charge within 3 days. Further, the adjustment of any amount on account of correction made
in the bill shall be reflected in the next bill. In case the future bill (the second bill after the
correction of the wrong bill), is found to be wrong the SDO in-charge shall be liable to pay a
penalty of Rs 500/- per default. Provided further in case such default is found to occur thrice,
the defaulting officer shall be proceeded under the Punishment and Appeal Rules for this act
of omission.”

Two bills were issued to the consumer and both of them were wrong. These bills were wrong
as they did not match the previous consumption by the consumer and were twenty times more
than the average consumption by the consumer.

 Regulation 5.3.2 of the Haryana Electricity supply code states that “The licensee
shall monitor the consumption pattern of the consumer and get the meter checked
where ever considered necessary to ensure that the meter is in proper working order”

Prima facie it appeared that the meter was out of order yet the licensee did not consider it
necessary to check the consumption pattern just because it was disadvantageous to the
licensee.

 Regulation 5.4.6 states that “In case, for any reason, the meter is not read during a
billing cycle, the licensee shall prepare a provisional bill in the manner as prescribed
under Regulation 6.9. Such provisional billing shall not continue for more than two
billing cycles at a stretch” – the provisional billing continued for more than two
billing cycles.
 Regulation 5.6 of the said code talks about Testing of Defective Meters
5.6.1 The licensee shall have the right to test any meter and related equipment if there
is a reasonable doubt about accuracy of the meter. The consumer shall provide the
licensee necessary assistance in conduct of the test. The licensee may check the meter
in-situ by putting a check meter in series or otherwise. If required, the licensee may
temporarily replace the meter and take it away for testing.
5.6.2 A consumer may request the licensee to test the meter if he doubts its accuracy,
by applying to the licensee along with requisite testing fee. On receipt of such
request, the licensee shall follow the procedure as detailed in Regulations 5.6.3 to
5.6.8.
5.6.3 On receipt of such request, the licensee shall inspect and check the correctness
of the meter within 7 working days of receiving the request.
The consumer requested the licensee to check the meter as he suspected it to be faulty
yet there was no action taken by the licensee even after 6 months let alone 7 days.

 Regulation 6.9 talks about: Procedure for billing under special circumstances
6.9.1 Billing in case of defective/sticky/dead stop/burnt meter
(1) In case of defective/sticky/dead stop /burnt meter, the consumer, during the
period of defective meter, shall be billed provisionally in the following manner.
 (a) On the basis of the consumption recorded during corresponding period of
previous year when the meter was functional and recording correctly.
(b) In case the same is not available, then on the basis of average consumption of the
past 6 months immediately preceding the date of the meter being found/reported
defective.

The licensee refused to acknowledge that the meter was a faulty one and insisted that
the consumer pay the wrong bills issued to him. It did not make any effort to check
the previous consumption of the consumer.

 Regulation 10.1.2 of the code states that “However, before disconnecting supply, an
adult member of the family should be informed. If proof of removal of cause of
disconnection has been produced to the satisfaction of licensee's employee deputed
for disconnection, the supply shall not be disconnected.”

No one was informed before the electricity supply was disconnected.

 Regulation 10.1.4 Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time
being in force, no sum due from any consumer shall be recoverable after a period of
two years from the date when such sum became first due unless such sum has been
shown continuously as recoverable as arrears of charges for electricity supplied and
the licensee shall not cut off the supply of the electricity. ( Identical to Section 56 (2)
of the electricity act)
 Regulation 10.2.1 Where a wrongful disconnection has taken place, the supply
should be restored within six (6) hours of lodging the complaint. – the licensee did not
consider the repeated requests of the consumer and did not restore the supply of
electricity.