CHENNAI: The Union Territory of Puducherry is not a high-tension (HT) consumer and hence it need not pay the higher rate of Rs three per KWH (unit), the Madras High Court ruled on Tuesday.A bench of Justices K K Sasidharan and P Velmurugan gave the ruling while allowing an appeal from Puducherry Electricity department challenging the order of a single judge dated July 26, 2004. Originally, the Union government had issued directives to NLC to divert energy to Puducherry to the extent indicated in a GO.
The agreement executed between NLC and TNEB on March 9, 2001 contained a mandatory provision that supply should be made to Puducherry treating the transaction as an inter-State sale. The TNEB initially supplied electricity to Puducherry treating it as an industrial consumer and collected only the cost payable to NLC together with wheeling charges at 10 paise per KWH. However, in the subsequent GO on November 28, 2001, making amendment to the Schedule to the TN Revision of Tariff Rates on supply of Electrical Energy Act, 1978, Puducherry was considered as a HT consumer.