Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has challenged before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) a Rs 7.18 lakh penalty imposed by the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) over alleged violations of consumer service standards in smart prepaid electricity meters. The appeal is expected to be heard on Aug 10. The dispute arises from UPERC’s June 3 order, which penalised UPPCL for failing to restore power supply to smart prepaid consumers within the mandatory two-hour period after recharge. The regulator found that while over 92% of reconnections between March 13 and April 10 were completed within the prescribed timeline, nearly 1.93 lakh consumers faced delays beyond two hours, violating the UPERC Standards of Performance Regulations, 2019. UPERC had rejected UPPCL’s explanations, including telecom network failures and system synchronisation issues, holding that such recurring problems were unacceptable. On July 16, the commission directed UPPCL to deposit the penalty within 15 days. Defending the appeal, a senior UPPCL official told TOI that the regulator failed to consider practical field conditions and did not provide adequate opportunity to explain its case. The official said remote reconnections could be delayed due to temporary telecom outages, consumer side disturbances, planned maintenance shutdowns and feeders remaining de-energised during repair works. “Such cases should not automatically be treated as service failures,” the official said. The appeal has drawn criticism from the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad (UPRVUP), which questioned the utility’s decision to spend public money on litigation against a relatively small penalty. A regular appeal under section 111 of the Electricity Act, the statutory filing fee alone is Rs 1 lakh, apart from advocates’ fees, drafting and filing charges and other expenses. “The issue is about consumer rights, regulatory accountability and the use of public funds. If the penalty is deposited, the money goes to govt treasury. Govt must examine whether consumer funds should be used to challenge an order passed to protect consumers,” said Avadhesh Kumar Verma, chairperson of UPRVUP.
