PSPCL’s ‘inflated’ bills earn it regulator’s rap

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, October 15

The Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, a body representing consumers, has accused Punjab State Power Corporation Limited of cheating a certain section of consumers by sending them inflated bills based on fictitious reading, an act which earned it the ire of the power regulator.

The panchayat alleged the PSPCL defrauded small power (SP) and commercial consumers (NRS) having a sanctioned load of more than 20 KW through inflated bills and in the process switched over from KWH (kilo watt hour) to kVAh (kilo volt ampere hour) system of calculation for energy consumption.

In a representation made to Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) Chairperson Kusumjit Sidhu at a public hearing in Chandigarh on October 12, grahak panchayat general secretary SB Pandhi alleged that the PSPCL failed to take timely action to switch over to kVAh procedure for calculating consumption of SP and NRC consumers with effect from August 1, 2018, as per directions of the regulator.

“Instead, electricity bills were issued to consumers after August 2018 on the basis of fictitious kVAh meter reading and wrong power factor at the end of July 2018, which were grossly inflated and amounted to open loot of the consumers,” Pandhi said while addressing a news conference here on Saturday.

The consumer rights activist said it was on April 19, 2018, that the PSERC had issued a circular directing the PSPCL to switch over to kVAh system of meter reading and issue bills accordingly to SP and NRS consumers from August 1, 2018, onwards. However, the power utility failed to do its homework and meter reading in kVAh was not taken at the end of July 2018. In order to cover up its alleged lapse, fictitious readings were entered on electricity bills and inflated bills were sent to consumers, he added.

Pandhi claimed the PSERC chairperson took the matter seriously and issued instructions to the commercial wing of the power utility to rectify the bills and take remedial measures to check recurrence of any such lapse in future. The consumers were also advised to approach the sub-divisions concerned for getting their bills corrected.

The ABGP made a plea to the regulatory body to keep the circular about change in system of calculation of electricity (from KWH to kVAh) in abeyance till the end of this financial year so that the PSPCL could prepare itself for the smooth switch-over and correct bills were issued to consumers on the basis of their actual consumption.