CHANDIGARH : On the directions of the Joint Electricity Regularity Commission (JERC), the UT electricity department has paid Rs 12.62 crore as interest on security deposit to power consumers in the city for the current financial year 2019-20.
The UT electricity department is adjusting the interest amount in power bills. This was submitted by the UT electricity department in a power tariff petition submitted before the JERC recently.
Depending on the connection, consumers have to deposit security between Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 while applying for the meter. In 2014, the JERC had turned down a review petition of the Chandigarh electricity department in which it had challenged the decision of the commission pertaining to interest on consumers’ security deposit. The commission had refused to reconsider its decision directing the department to pay interest on security deposit to the consumers.
The power department had challenged JERC’s order wherein the commission had issued directions to it to pay interest on security deposit collected from consumer’s equivalent to bank rate. Over year years, the department has collected over Rs 200 crore in the form of interest from power consumers of the city.
Source : timesofindia
