Fresh SC glare on electronic meters

The burden of transmission and leakage losses could not be put on the consumers, The petitioner contended.

The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Delhi government, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Committee and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd on a petition challenging a Delhi High Court judgment giving a “clean chit” to electronic meters, notorious for giving inflated readings.

HT Image

A division bench of the high court had, on February 20 last, upheld a decision of a single judge who gave a clean chit to electronic meters, saying past consumption cannot be used to determine the correctness of the device.

Appearing for petitioner Suresh Jindal, counsel Sanjay Parikh sought setting aside of the HC order on the ground that that it “put the consumers of Delhi at large in insurmountable problems”.

“The consumers have been put to an unnecessary exercise of changing the wiring which involves huge expenditure without any corresponding benefit to them,” he submitted before a bench headed by Justice S.B. Sinha.

The petitioner contended that the high court could not have issued general directions for change of the existing electro-mechanical meters with the so-called electronic meters despite having noted that the electronic meters were recording even the electricity losses on account of transmission and earth leakage.

The burden of transmission and leakage losses could not be put on the consumers, he contended.

The petitioner submitted that it has to be as per regulations and specifications of the Central Electricity Authority.

He also contended that the private power distribution companies did not have the authority to change the meters.