When some officials visited the house of Rana Sapui, a chartered accountant, in Barrackpore last year, he was genuinely surprised. He was told that there was pilferage of electricity from his meter and that it had been tampered with. He was sternly informed that he would have to pay a lump sum amount, otherwise his electricity connection would be discontinued. “It was difficult for me to pay the amount, so I arrived at a compromise. But the manner in which I was asked to pay for something that I had nothing to do with was totally arbitrary,” he regrets.

But Sapui can now hope to seek assistance after a recent judgement delivered by the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The judgement states that the consumer has “the right to challenge allegations of theft of energy”. Reported in leading consumer journals in August this year, the judgement took into account several state-level cases and also a Supreme Court decision on consumer rights concerning electricity consumption.

The Delhi State Commission judgment has delivered a pointer in favour of consumer interest that is being welcomed by consumer activists. There now appears to be a platform for airing grievances for people who have been unfairly victimised by electricity boards whereas previously there was none.

Prabir Basu, a consumer activist and lawyer in Calcutta, says that the judgment will provide consumers an additional platform to air their grievances, apart from the Electricity Regulatory Authority. “No consumer can now be condemned without the opportunity of being heard as this right emanates from the principle of natural justice,” Basu remarks.

His views are supported by Bejon Misra, executive director of Consumer Voice magazine in New Delhi, who says that the new allowance would be accommodated under the appropriate provisions of the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. According to Misra, allegations of electricity theft can be detrimental to consumers in two fundamental categories. “If the allegation is unsubstantiated, it would come under the provision of deliberate acts of negligence of the service provider where the consumer incurs a loss or damage,” he says. “It would also come under unfair trade practice whereby there is a misrepresentation of electricity consumption,” he remarks. Faulty meters would also come under the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act, according to Misra.

However, the judgement is being disputed by the West Bengal State Electricity Board. “The judgement is not in consonance with the Electricity Act since theft is a criminal offence and has to be dealt with in a criminal court,” says Moloy Kumar De, chairman and managing director of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL), a body that comes under the purview of West Bengal State Electricity Board. De adds that the consumer forum could decide on cases dealing with the quality of service such as wrong billing but when it comes to something such as theft it cannot be adjudicated likewise. “The only way to deal with theft of any kind is to treat it as a criminal offence,” he emphasises.

There are also areas that the consumer has to be cautious about. A common case is that of the use of air conditioners that are installed during summer. The capacities of meters and other equipment for supplying electricity to a home are based on the connected load that applies to any consumer. Installation of a new electrical element can increase the load. “In such cases, if the existing meters and associated equipment are not of sufficient capacity, this may not only lead to hazards to life and property but also cause faults and breakdowns of the distribution network and outage of electric supply,” warns Santanu Chatterjee, executive director of CESC Limited.

As precautionary measures, Chatterjee offers two remedies. “First, it is important to get the internal wiring checked by a licensed electrical conductor before installing equipment that draws a heavy load. Second, it is equally important to contact the CESC district engineer of the region and apprise him of the increase in load,” he says. The engineer would be able to guide the consumer on the procedures to be followed to avoid any inconvenience.

There are some other measures that can be beneficial to consumers. For proper redress, the electricity board that intends to take any action against a consumer for pilferage of electricity must lodge a first information report, a list of allegations and seized equipment to cement its claims of electricity theft. “If the allegations are found to be false, the consumer forum can adjudge restoration of supply and compensation to the consumer,” says Barun Prasad, assistant secretary of the State Consumer Bar Association in Calcutta.

Apart from these advantages, a consumer can also claim to know the cost of production, distribution and transmission of electricity. “The service providers are also liable to ensure proper protection of their property so that unauthorised use and theft does not take place and that they don’t harass the consumer unduly and out of course,” says Mala Banerjee, president of the Federation of Consumer Associations, West Bengal.