SERC seeks details of service connection charges

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) has asked the KSEB to furnish details of service connection charges collected from industrial consumers during the period 2005-2010. In a September 8, 2010 order, the SERC had declared service connection charges levied after March 2, 2005 - the date on which the Electricity Supply Code came into force - as illegal. At the time, ruling on a petition filed by the Kerala HT/EHT Industrial Electricity Consumers Association, the Commission had reserved judgment on the question of refunding the amount collected after 2005. This issue came up for hearing on Thursday. Industrial consumers told the Commission that they had remitted lakhs of rupees as service connection charges after 2005. Some consumers said they had to pay the sum (Rs 450 per kVA) even after the Commission had declared the levy illegal on September 8, 2010. The HT/EHT Industrial Electricity Consumers Association requested the Commission to issue orders to all distribution licensees (KSEB is one of several distributors in Kerala) to refund the sum collected after March 2, 2005, with interest. The Association also urged the Commission to take penal action against the KSEB for violating clauses of the Electricity Act in collecting the connection fee. Association president Jose Thomas said that the KSEB had violated clauses of the Electricity Act, the Supply Code and two specific orders by the Electricity Ombudsman terming the levy illegal.KSEB SEEKS MORE TIME: Instead of presenting their case, KSEB  representatives sought an adjournment on the grounds that the problem was a complex one. This sparked objections from the consumers who said the KSEB had 13 months (since September 2010) to study the matter. Commission chairman K J Mathew said the power utility should have applied for adjournment before the hearing. However, he allotted more time to the KSEB, saying that details such as the total sum collected as service connection charges, the possible impact of a refund on the general public as well as on the KSEB budget should be furnished.