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Ludhiana: City resident billed ₹1L for vacant house, PSPCL assures action in 2 days
According to consumer, officials later cited the non-availability of a three-phase meter which is required to be installed for load reduction as the reason for the delay
Despite clear provisions in the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) supply code mandating that applications for reduction of electricity load be processed within 15 days, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has failed to act on a consumer’s request for over nine months, forcing him to pay electricity bills to the tune of ₹1.3 lakh for a vacant house in Tagore Nagar.
The consumer, identified as Shashi Aggarwal of the City West division, had applied for a reduction in domestic connection load from 60 kW to 15 kW on March 23 at a Seva Kendra under the Aggar Nagar division. However, despite repeated follow-ups, the PSPCL has yet to process the application, continuing to levy fixed charges of around ₹10,000 every month.
Officials familiar with the matter said that under existing rules, the PSPCL is required to process load reduction applications within 15 days of the consumer paying the prescribed processing fee. The supply code also stipulates that fixed charges cannot be billed beyond this period if the delay is attributable to the department.
In Aggarwal’s case, however, more than nine months have passed without any action, even though the premises remain vacant. The prolonged delay has caused him financial distress due to continued billing.
Aggarwal said he had initially approached the power department in January with a request for load reduction. “After an inspection was conducted in February, I paid the processing fee of ₹6,600 to complete the formalities.
Despite completing all required procedures, the process remained stalled for months and after several follow-ups, the concerned junior engineer informed me that my file had been misplaced and asked me to submit it again,” he said.
“Acting on the JE’s instruction, I resubmitted the file on December 15, but no progress has been made so far.”
According to Aggarwal, officials later cited the non-availability of a three-phase meter which is required to be installed for load reduction as the reason for the delay.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Aggarwal asked, adding that he has been issued electricity bills amounting to nearly ₹1.3 lakh, with fixed charges of around ₹10,000 every month. “Despite following all due procedures, I am being pushed from pillar to post for such a routine task,” he said.
When contacted, PSPCL chief engineer Jagdev Hans said he would look into the matter to ensure the issue is resolved within two days. “If any official is found to be errant, appropriate action will be taken,” he said.
