Consumer Protection Act, 1986 – Appellant, an agriculturist held agricultural land – For a bore well to be dug on the land, appellant applied for electricity connection to the respondent on
26 Dec. 1996 and deposited the requisite charges – Respondent raised bill for consumption charges between 30 Sep. 2005 and 31 Dec. 2005 – Appellant filed complaint before District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission claiming that no electricity connection had been installed– Complaint allowed– State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission reversed the order – National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) dismissed the revision – Appellant filed review petition, which was allowed – Compensation of Rs 2,00,000/- granted to the appellant – Plea of appellant that he was left in lurch for nearly nineteen years after the submission of application for the grant of electricity connection as the same was granted only on 4 Sep.2015 hence, the compensation granted does not meet the requirement of fair compensation – Held: Appellant applied for electricity connection in Dec.1996, however submitted a test report, required for obtaining such connection, only in March 2005 – Respondent cannot be faulted for the delay which occurred between the date of the submission of the application and until the appellant complied with the requirement of submitting the test report on 24 March 2005 – No cogent explanation on the part of the respondent as to why a decade thereafter elapsed before the electricity connection was granted to the appellant on 4 Sep.2015 – After the submission of the test report, no further steps were required to be carried out by the appellant – Appellant suffered hardship and inconvenience as a result of an unexplained delay of a decade on the part of the respondent(s) in granting the electricity connection – Compensation granted by NCDRC not adequate to meet the requirement of just and fair compensation – Compensation enhanced to Rs.5,00,000/-, be paid within four weeks from today – In default, the compensation to carry interest at the rate of 9 % p.a.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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