Thousands of electricity cases will be resolved in Lok Adalat on March 8

Tahir Kamaal Siddiqui - Indore

Indore. The first Lok Adalat of this year is being organized on March 8, Saturday. Effective preparations are being made by the MP West Zone Electricity Distribution Company for this. Chief Vigilance Officer Kamesh Srivastava said that under the guidance of the company management, effective preparations have been organized by the Lok Adalat headquarters and notices have been issued regarding exemption. Most notices have been issued in Indore, Ujjain, Dhar, Dewas, Ratlam districts, thousands of notices have been distributed in these districts and appeals have been made as per the order of the Energy Department for settlement.

In this Lok Adalat, settlement can be done in cases of civil liability up to Rs 10 lakh. The Chief Vigilance Officer said that settlement of cases of electricity theft and irregularities registered under Section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003 will be done in the Lok Adalat. Domestic, all agricultural, non-domestic up to 5 kilowatts and industrial consumers up to 10 horsepower load eligible in the low pressure category of pre-litigation will get exemption.

At pre-litigation level, 30 per cent discount will be given on the civil liability amount and 100 per cent discount on the interest amount. Similarly, in litigation level cases, 20 per cent discount will be given on the estimated civil liability amount and 100 per cent discount on the interest amount. After the prescribed discount, the remaining bill of estimated civil liability, crime mitigation amount and interest amount will have to be paid in one lump sum. During Lok Adalat, discount will be given only if the applicant has committed electricity theft/unauthorized use for the first time. If the applicant has any other connection also, the amount for that connection must be deposited in full.