HC restrains BSES from taking any action against a consumer

New Delhi, Apr 30 (UNI) Delhi High Court has restrained the power company BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd from taking any coercive action or disconnecting the power supply of a consumer for not paying the bill as the bill in question is disputed and alleged to be inflated and wrong.

Justice Sudershan Kumar Misra yesterday stayed the proceedings of disconnection by the power company till the matter is settled in the court.

Sixty five-year-old Paramjeet Kaur staying in Rajouri Garden with a small family had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of an inflated bill of Rs 5,43,523 raised by BSES as it was allegedly raised arbitrarily by the power company and was in violation of Section 56(2) of the Electricity Act 2003.

Manjit Singh Ahluwalia,lawyer for the petitioner, contended that his client is a senior citizen and has been paying her electricity bills regularly. Suddenly she received a bill of more than Rs five lakhs. She approached the authorities to amend the bill but her request was not heard and they said that the arrears were due for the last five years.

Mr Ahluwalia said that as per the section 56(2) of the Electricity Act, the power companies cannot raise a bill of any arrears for more than two years. The petitioner has submitted the bills of last two years in the court which does not show any arrears.

The court has directed BSES to refrain from disconnecting her power supply till the pendency of the case.

UNI SNG KK RP VC1858