Govt prepares draft of Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020

Category : Politics & Social | Sub Category : Social Posted on 2020-09-16 18:06:34

Power Ministry has drafted rules providing for Rights of Electricity Consumers for the First Time. Electricity Consumers are the most important stakeholders in the power sector.

To provide consumer satisfaction, it is imperative to identify the key services, prescribe minimum service levels and standards with respect to these services and recognize them as rights of consumers.

With this objective, a draft of Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 has been prepared for the first time by the government.

According to the draft, State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, SERCs will fix average number and duration of outages per consumer per year for DISCOMs.

Only two documents will be required for connection up to load of 10 KW and no estimation of demand charges will be required for loads up to 150 KW to expedite giving connection.

There will be a time period of not more than seven days in metro cities, 15 days in other municipal areas and 30 days in rural areas, to provide new connection and modify existing connection.

There will be option to pay bills in cash, cheque, debit cards and net banking but bills of Rs. 1,000 or more have to be paid online.

Draft Rules have been circulated by Ministry of Power on 9th of September for seeking comments and suggestions of consumers up to 30th September. 

They shall be finalized after taking into account all the suggestions received and issued.