Billing for defective electricity meters must follow the guidelines of the regulatory commission, specifically regarding the payment period.

Ms. Sucharita Biswas ..for the petitioner Mr. Sujit Sankar Koley Ms. Susmita Chatterjee ..for WBSEDCL The petitioner challenges a bill dated July 2, 2025, in which he was instructed to deposit a sum of Rs. 17,501/- for electricity consumption through a defective meter.

It is evident that the petitioner had been utilizing electricity through a meter that was later identified as defective. Consequently, on October 10, 2023, the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) installed a new meter.

The petitioner does not contest the bills raised by WBSEDCL following the installation of the new meter. The only dispute pertains to the payment for the period during which the meter was defective.

The procedure for billing in cases involving defective or malfunctioning meters is outlined in Clause

3.6.1 of the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission ’s Notification No. 55/WBERC, dated August

7, 2013. The relevant clause is reproduced below:

“3.6.1. If, on inspection by the Distribution licensee on its own or on the basis of a complaint of a consumer, the meter of a consumer is found defective or defunct for a reason other than theft of electricity as provided in section 135 of the Act and no theft of energy can be reasonably suspected, the consumer shall pay provisionally, for such consumption of electricity for the period during which the meter has been suspected to have been defective or defunct, on the basis of average consumption and other parameters for the preceding and / or succeeding three months or during any previous and /or subsequent period that may be reasonably comparable before the meter has been found to be defective or defunct. If, however, the period during which the meter has been defective or defunct cannot be ascertained, such period shall be limited to a period of three months immediately preceding the date of inspection.”

In this case, WBSEDCL contends that the period of defect should be considered from December 23, 2022, to October 8, 2023, as it was found that the meter reading taken on December 23, 2022, recorded a consumption of 5 (five) units, which was significantly lower than the petitioner’s previous consumption.

The petitioner, however, dispute such stand.

In light of the aforementioned regulation, without delving into such dispute, I direct WBSEDCL to recalculate the bill for the defective period as follows:

Since a new meter was installed in October 2023, the period of defect should span from July 2023 to September 2023.

The average consumption, however, should be calculated based on the average consumption of the three months following the installation of the new meter.

The recalculated bill amount shall be issued within seven days from the date of this order. The petitioner is required to make payment within seven days thereafter.

It is acknowledged that the petitioner has not made any payment following the installation of the new meter. The outstanding amount must be deposited within seven days from the date of this order.

Accordingly, WPA 23903 of 2023 is disposed of.