Mumbai, Nov 1 A Nagpur consumer commission has pulled up the state power utility for withholding a 69-year-old farmer’s deposit for over seven years without giving him a connection, and directed it to install a solar agricultural pump at his farm within 60 days.
The Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also ordered the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to pay Rs 35,000 to the farmer towards mental agony and litigation costs.
"An ordinary farmer, despite paying the amount, had to follow up for several years for the connection and finally had to approach the commission," it noted in its October 22 order while holding the MSEDCL guilty of deficiency in service.
The commission, however, rejected the farmer's claim for Rs 24.93 lakh in damages for alleged drying up of his cotton crops in 2019 and 2020 due to lack of water. It asserted that his projected yield of 20 quintals per acre was speculative and unsupported by any independent evidence, certifying that the crop failed solely due to the missing power connection.
The complainant, a resident of Parshivani tehsil in Nagpur district, had applied for a 3 HP solar agricultural pump connection for the well on his 1.83-hectare farm at Mauza Dundakhairi. Following a demand note from MSEDCL, he deposited Rs 16,560 on July 10, 2019.
The farmer claimed that despite repeated follow-ups and a legal notice in January 2021, the utility failed to install the pump, following which he filed a complaint with the consumer commission in February 2021.
The MSEDCL, in its response, contended that the farmer had submitted two letters -- in December 2019 and September 2020 -- stating he no longer wanted a solar pump and instead sought a regular three-phase electricity connection.
However, the complainant's counter was that he did not know English. He alleged that MSEDCL staff had misused his signature to fabricate those letters and pressured him to withdraw his complaint.
The commission's order highlighted several glaring contradictions in the power utility's conduct and records.
It pointed out that MSEDCL accepted the deposit in July 2019 but failed to provide the connection to date without offering any satisfactory explanation for the inordinate delay.
Further, the panel emphasised that if the farmer had genuinely opted out of the solar scheme in December 2019 as claimed by MSEDCL, the utility should have refunded his money and closed the application.
"Instead, MSEDCL accepted his online vendor selection (Tata Power Solar Limited) in May 2020 and conducted a joint site inspection in September 2020, proving the utility itself treated the application as live," it said.
Taking into account these aspects, the court held that the act of the opposite party amounts to 'deficiency in service' under relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
It directed MSEDCL to provide the 3 HP solar pump connection to the farmer within 60 days without charging a single rupee beyond the Rs 16,560 already paid in 2019.
The power utility company has also been asked to pay compensation of Rs 25,000 for mental harassment and Rs 10,000 as litigation costs within 30 days, failing which the amount will carry an interest of 9 per cent per annum.
