Report of Indian Institute of Public Administration ... - Ministry of Power

State Reports (Vol.-III)
Study on `Impact of Restructuring of SEBs’
entertain disputes directly and the consumer is totally tired and frustrated by the
time he exhausts the internal grievance redressal channels. This mechanism tends
to be slow, biased and unresponsive.
ii) During discussions with the Chairman and the Members of the Rajasthan
Regulatory Commission, it was suggested that instead of the consumer being
required to go through the series of internal channels, there should be only one
channel to be crossed before he can approach the Ombudsman. There is a
separate forum for redressal of grievances at the district level and at the corporate
level. The consumer is required to exhaust all these channels before he can
approach the Ombudsman. It was also mentioned that on the pattern of the
Settlement Committees, perhaps based on the disputed amount and the type of
grievance, there could be a division of functions between the District Forum and
the Corporate Forum so that the consumer is not required to approach first the
District Forum and then the Corporate Forum. Secondly, it was suggested that in
order to check deliberate delays at the level of DISCOMs, it should be clearly
laid down that if the matter is not resolved within 30 days from the submission of
grievance, the concerned Internal Grievance Redressal Committee will cease to
have jurisdiction and the Ombudsman can directly take cognisance of such
matters. This matter was also discussed with all three Ombudsmen and they were
lamenting that they are virtually non-functional because of the existing
provisions.
Section 135: implementation of anti-theft measures
Government of Rajasthan has notified 34 anti-theft police stations out of which 15
have started w.e.f. 1 April 2006 and the remaining are to start very shortly.
Ariel bunch conductors are being installed in theft prone areas.
Open Access
As in captive generating plants, similar non-cooperative approach is being faced
by Open Access consumers. They too as abundant precaution prefer to have a
connection from the DISCOM for emergency purposes. They are also subjected to the
same illogical minimum charges. They too have to unnecessarily consume power
equal to the amount of minimum charges from the DISCOM. Additional power would
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