Levy of TDL charges, fixed charges by MSEDCL challenged

Nagpur, Feb 27 (UNI) A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court today challenging the levy of Transmission and Distribution Losses (TDL) and fixed charges being collected from consumers by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).

The PIL, filed by trade unionist M N Dorairajan, sought quashing of the TDL charges and fixed charges being collected by the MSEDCL. The petitioner's contention was that the charges were ''arbitrary and invalid,'' and that the court must, therefore, intervene to restrain the company from collecting them.

A division bench comprising Justices Ambadas Joshi and R C Chavan fixed March 22 as the next date of hearing. The court asked the petitioner to hand over copies of the petition to the respondents the MSEDCL, its Managing Director and Chief Engineer in Nagpur, and also to inform them of the next date of hearing.

Mr Dorairajan contended that the consumers were being made to pay the TDL charges for no fault of theirs. The TDL stood at 39 per cent, which was due to theft and the MSEDCL's ''inefficiency and mismanagement,'' he said.

The MSEDCL was also collecting ''fixed charges'' from the consumers, for which there was ''no reason or explanation'', the petitioner contended. The company had no legal sanction to levy either the TDL charges or the fixed charges, he added.

Earlier on July 7, 2004, Justice Dilip Sinha in the High Court here had disposed of a petition by Mr Dorairajan on the same issue, asking him to make a representation to the respondent, the former Maharashtra the State Electricity Board (MSEB).

Although the MSEB was directed to decide the representation as early as possible, the petitioner was informed that the ''matter was under consideration'', forcing Mr Dorairajan to file a fresh litigation.

The MSEB has since been split into independent companies for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, with the MSEDCL being responsible for supplying power to individual customers and collecting the charges thereon.

UNI