Chandigarh : In a significant decision, the Haryana Right to Service Commission has directed Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to a complainant due to lapses and negligence in service delivery by the electricity department.
Sh Bharat Yadav, a resident of Gurugram, had filed a complaint with the Commission stating that he had applied for a 2 kW domestic electricity connection on January 1, 2025. Despite multiple visits to the departmental offices, he was neither given a clear explanation for the delay nor any update on the status of his application. After an extended wait, the No Objection Certificate (NOC) was finally issued on March 26, 2025. During this period, the application was neither rejected nor given any information, causing the applicant undue mental stress.
While giving information in this regard, a spokesperson of the Commission said that the investigation confirmed that Sh Yadav was subjected to unnecessary mental harassment without any fault on his part, holding DHBVN accountable for the inconvenience caused.
During the hearing, the Commission found that a letter dated December 24, 2024, sent to the builder by the corporation, clearly mentioned that approval for converting the single-point connection into a multi-point one had already been granted by DHBVN's full-time Directors on May 30, 2024. Yet, officials delayed the process citing the pending approval of ‘Vidyutikaran Yojana’. The Commission also clarified that such a scheme is submitted only by the colonizer or other government agencies, and not by DHBVN itself, when the connections are to be issued directly by the corporation.
The Commission further discovered that DHBVN had already procured approximately 4,000 meters, indicating the corporation's intent to issue connections prior to the approval of Vidhyudhikaran Yojana. It also noted that around 39 similar connections had been issued without the scheme’s formal sanction, raising questions about why Sh Yadav was denied the same facility.
Taking a serious view of the matter, the Commission declared it a violation of consumer rights and a case of clear service negligence. Under Section 17(1)(h) of the Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014, the Commission approved compensation of Rs 5,000, to be paid initially by DHBVN from its own funds. The amount may be recovered from the responsible officers following an internal inquiry.
Additionally, the Commission expressed disapproval of the conduct of Executive Engineer Sh Vikas Yadav, the designated first-level grievance redressal authority, for failing to attend two hearings. The Commission has cautioned him to act responsibly in the future and has added his name to the monitoring database for performance tracking.