The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has ruled that once the energy used is fully recorded in the meter, there can be no inference of theft of electricity.
The ruling comes in a petition filed by Pollachi-based B. Balamurali, proprietor of Dhanu Enterprises, against Tangedco.
In his petition, Mr. Balamurali said the power drawn from Tangedco by his firm is used for curled coir and baling of coir fibre and sought for the service connection to be put under LT-IIIB tariff category instead of LT-V tariff as contended by the State utility.
Tangedco argued that there was no manufacturing activity or production of goods on the premises of Mr. Balamurali and only packing of coconut husks and sealing them into packages were carried out. Hence, the activity was considered as misuse of tariff under Section 135(1)(e) of the Electricity Act, 2003.
TNERC said Tangedco had not produced any evidence or document to establish its stance to prove that there was only packing activity and the change of tariff to LT-V did not arise. Further, the Commission said it intended to set right the growing misinterpretation of provisions under Sections 126 and 135 of the Electricity Act. Though the unauthorised use other than the theft of electricity falls within the scope of Section 126, it is often dealt with under Section 135 which is exclusively meant for theft of electricity, the TNERC said.
There should be a dishonest intention on the part of the consumer to steal electricity as the necessary ingredient to decide the offence of theft of energy to deal with under Section 135, it said. The dishonest intention can be inferred from the act of abstracting the energy in unlawful ways such as tapping the electricity from overhead line or underground or facilities of distribution system, tampering / meddling/damaging / destroying the meter, use of any foreign material to meddle with the recording of energy use in the meter among others, it said.
When the energy use is fully recorded in the meter and such energy so recorded is used for the purpose other than the purpose authorised, there cannot be dishonest intention to steal the energy simply because the energy is fully recorded and metered. Such cases categorically fall under Section 126 and to be dealt with accordingly, it said.
TNERC told Tangedco to refund the amount collected towards compounding charges and the extra levy charges to the petitioner along with 12% interest.
It directed Tangedco to communicate its order with due instructions to all officers and staff concerned (including Anti-Power Theft squad and other squad) for strict adherence while warning of action under Section 142 of the Electricity Act 2003 if any complaint is received on the issue in future.
