Electricity Act
Querist :
Anonymous
(Querist) 23 September 2010
This query is : Resolved
Hi. Am a licensee. The bldg am residing has been declared by MHADA as dangerous, which is true, as such am temporarily staying somewhere else. The Licensor has informed that he is not going to take rent as the bldg is old. However, recently the BEST has disconnected the electricity connection and taken away my meter on the ground of non usage of electricity. We have been paying the bill. We had never been informed by the BEST about the disconnection of the meter, when they were aware of our other address.
My query, can the BEST remove the meter without informing the person?
What steps to be taken against the BEST??
They are not ready to reinstall the connection and are asking to take fresh connection.
Please help.
R.Ramachandran
(Expert) 23 September 2010
BEST has the authority to remove the meters and to effect disconnection when the electricity is not being used - this is despite the fact that you may be paying minimum electricity bill.
Besides that, please indicate did you inform BEST that since the building has been declared unsafe, you will not be living there and are residing in some other place. In any case, when a particular connection has been given to a particular premises, and when that premises is inhabitable due to it being dangerous, how can you insist for the same connection.
A connection having been disconnected for whatsoever reason, and when BEST is saying that they would provide you with a fresh connection on application, what is your difficulty?
Querist :
Anonymous
(Querist) 24 September 2010
Dear Ramachandran
The difficulty is that though MHADA has declared the blg unsafe, the owner insists that the bldg is habitable, and filed a suit against me on the ground of non usage of the premises and wants me to hand over the possession, he has got the electric meter removed to prove to court that i am not staying there, it has been informed to the court that MHADA has declared it unsafe, but his ground is that there are others who are staying and that i am only giving an excuse. I have paid a great sum to the landlord, if i get permission for repairing my side, the flat is worth the price, which permission the owner is not giving.
Thats the reason why this query. Though the matter is pending in court, just wanted to inquire whether BEST can disconnect the connection, if so under what provisions.
Thanks for a speedy reply.
