R Krishnakumar/TNN
 
Bangalore, Nov 26: Are you aware that you are entitled to compensation if there is a long, unscheduled power cut at home? If the outage extends beyond six hours, then Bescom is liable to pay you a penalty of Rs 50.

Imagine out of a 70 lakh population of Bangalore, even if 2 lakh were to claim compensation, then Bescom would have had to dole out a whopping Rs 1 crore.

It is the state’s power regulatory authority itself that has prescribed penalties on unscheduled power cuts, payable to the affected consumers.

According to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) regulations of 2004 (licensees’ standards of performance), deficiency of services attracts a penalty. Y G Muralidharan, consultant (consumer advocacy), KERC, confirmed to TOI that the provision — with “reasonable exemptions — is in place.

In case of a normal fuse-off that extends beyond six hours in the cities and towns (indicative maximum limits; the exemptions being emergencies like a transformer blast and notified shutdowns), the consumer has to be paid a penalty of Rs 50 in each case of default. In the rural areas, the maximum limit is 24 hours. The penalty is a standard Rs 50 across line breakdowns and distribution transformer failures. The penalty, if cleared, has to be adjusted in the electricity bill for the month.

“The claim has to be made by the consumer with details of the service deficiency, along with proof that the shutdown was not notified, to the Bescom AEE concerned. There’s virtually no awareness on the existence of these clauses. We’ve had five or six cases wherein people sought compensation for deficiencies like delay in fresh connections but not on power cuts,’’ says Muralidharan.

The schedule on the standards of performance covers penalty on a host of other deficiencies, including scheduled outages (not to exceed 12 hours at a stretch), voltage variations when no expansion or enhancement of network is involved (within seven days) and metering complaints.

A senior Bescom official confirmed the existence of the clauses but chose not to comment on the details. Interestingly, a Bescom response to an RTI application has attached the KERC-prescribed standards of performance and the amounts to be paid to customers for the defects.

C H Ram, a resident of Koramangala 4th block, wanted to know the compensation he’s entitled to after being at the receiving end of long, unscheduled shutdowns. After correspondence to Bescom failed to make headway, Ram filed an application under RTI. Bescom — in a reply dated March 25, 2008 — clarified that while the KERC grid code does not provide for compensation, the commission’s 2004 regulations indicate the standards of performance and the corresponding penalty prescribed.

“In some cases, the supply is not restored even after the scheduled shutdown hours, due to official slackness. Rs 50 may appear a small amount but imagine the impact if all the consumers make use of this provision. It will keep the authorities on their toes,’’ says Ram. He has forwarded a complaint in this connection to the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) that will hold a hearing on December 1.

KERC officials point out that the consumers have to “fight it out’’ to get the penalty cleared. The idea, though, is not to take it lying down.