PHULBANI: The Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA) of Phulbani has waived off an inflated energy consumption bill of Rs 49,113 charged by the TP Southern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPSODL) to a house owner here.
As per reports, 80-year-old Hema Padhy had knocked on the doors of Permanent Lok Adalat (PLA) of Phulbani after receiving an inflated bill of Rs 49,113 for the house she had sublet in Ollen Batch Nagar Mouza of Phulbani town. After receiving the bill, she visited the electricity office in Phulbani and was told that she has been penalised after the electrical vigilance and enforcement staff had inspected her house and found the meter tampered.
She filed a petition at the PLA, which after scrutiny of documents, found that the company had violated the statute under Section 126 of Electricity Act 2003 which states that if on inspection of any place or premises the assessing officer comes to conclusion that such person is indulging in unauthorised use of electricity, then he shall provisionally assess to the best of his judgment the electricity charges payable by such person instantly. Though Hema’s house was inspected by TPSODL officials on August 2019, they raised the issue and bill after three months on November 30 leading the Adalat to view the matter as illegal and done with malafide intention.
“Gross violations in meter testing report and provisional order of assessment not being served to the petitioner were also brought to the fore by the court,” said PLA chairman Santosh Kumar Nayak. The company has been directed by the court to correct the bill within 15 days.