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U.P. Power Corporation Ltd. & Ors. v. Vimla Devi & Anr.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 9148 of 2015)Decided 30 Oct 2015
Civil Appeal No. 9148 of 2015
Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice Kurian Joseph

Background

Vimla Devi's electricity meter was found faulty, and her old meter was replaced in January 2010 after a period of short billing. The electricity corporation then issued a demand of about Rs. 1.98 lakh for unbilled energy, which was later revised to about Rs. 50,891. The High Court quashed the revised demand, ordered the corporation to pay Rs. 10,000 costs, and directed that displeasure be recorded in the annual confidential reports of the officers who had assessed the bill.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the corporation's appeal in part. It accepted that a bill can be revised for a period of faulty metering, but only for a maximum of twelve months. It directed that the bills be recalculated using the consumer's average consumption over the twelve months after the new meter was installed, and that the balance be paid within the stated time. The Court held that the procedural irregularities by the officers did not show any malafide or illegal conduct, so it expunged the adverse remarks, vacated the High Court's directions against the officers and set aside the costs order.

Lesson Learnt

If a meter is faulty and a utility under-bills, it can usually recover the shortfall only for a limited period (here, twelve months), and the bill is calculated from the consumer's own later average use. A procedural mistake by an official is not necessarily misconduct, so records of this kind should not be made without a proper inquiry.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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