KAMAR ELAHI vs W.B.S.E.B.

THIS appeal has arisen out of the order passed by the District Forum, Birbhum (Suri) on 31.3.2004, in the Case No. BIR/144/O/2003, wherein the Forum below allowed the case on contest without any cost and referred the disputed electric bills for the period from April, 2003 to June, 2003 and July, 2003 to September, 2003 and also the defective meter to the Chief Electrical Inspector, W.B. for adjudication and the O.P.-W.B.S.E.B. was directed to replace the defective meter by a new one.

THE brief facts of the case of the complainant before the Forum were that being a consumer under the O.P.-W.B.S.E.B. he received electric bills for the months of April, 2003 to June, 2003 and July, 2003 to September, 2003 which were highly inflated and fictitious according to him. His allegation was that the bills were raised without taking the meter reading. He filed the case before the Forum below praying for direction upon the O.P-W.B.S.E.B. to issue fresh rectified electric bills for the above mentioned period and cancel the inflated bills and also prayed for other reliefs. Being dissatisfied with the above mentioned order the appellant-Kamar Elahi has preferred the present appeal before this Commission praying for setting aside the Forum''s order.

On careful perusal of the Forum''s order it is noticed by us that the impugned order was quite in order. It is an admitted fact that it is a case of disputed bills and defective meter. As per the Indian Electricity Act the billing dispute is not a subject matter of COPRA, for which remedy lies before the CEI, W.B. for adjudication.

WE have carefully gone through the provision of the Section 26(6) of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, which states, "Where any difference or dispute arises as to whether any meter or bill is not correct, the matter shall be decided, upon the application of either party, by an Electrical Inspector, and where the meter has, in the opinion of such Inspector ceased to be correct, such Inspector shall estimate the amount of energy supplied to the consumer...". In this context, we may refer to a judgment reported in C.H.N. Vol-1 1997, page 50 (SC) in the matter of CESC v. N.M. Banka, which held, "The consumer should have approached the Electrical Inspector straightaway if he was aggrieved by the bills. The Court should have declined to intervene when the consumer approached the Court. The Court should have directed the consumer to avail of the statutory remedy".

THEREFORE, in our opinion the Forum below has rightly passed its order. During hearing the appellant has submitted that the defective meter and the disputed electric bills for the abovementioned months are lying with the CEI for adjudication. So at this stage we have nothing to do. The decision of the CEI will be binding on both the parties. The appellant has also submitted that he is in dark; the W.B.S.E.B. did not install a new meter in the circuit. Hence the respondent-W.B.S.E.B. is directed to install a defect free and new meter in the circuit within 15 days from the date of getting this order. The appeal is dismissed on contest but however without any cost and disposed of accordingly. Appeal dismissed.