Capital’s residents have a reason to cheer as the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has approved a compensation for them in case of unscheduled power cuts lasting more than one hour.

According to a Delhi government statement, the consumer will be compensated by ₹50 an hour for the first two hours and ₹100 for every subsequent hour. If an interruption recurs, the compensation will be paid from the initial default.

First in country

With this, Delhi has become the first State in the country where consumers will be compensated by power distribution companies (Discoms) in case of unscheduled power cuts. The Delhi government had approved the compensation plan in June this year.

In case of unscheduled power cuts, the compensation shall be payable automatically by the Discom to all the affected consumers, without requiring a claim to be filed by the consumer. After restoration of power supply, a confirmation message will be sent by Discom to the consumer with restoration date and time, a Delhi government statement said.

Dispute resolution

In case the Discom determines that no compensation is payable to affected consumer, he or she can approach the Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum (CGRF) and, if not satisfied from CGRF, to the Electricity Ombudsman.

The revised (electricity) Supply Code 2017 also says that if the compensation claim of the consumer is upheld by the CGRF or Ombudsman, the amount payable will be ₹5,000 or five times the original compensation, whichever is higher.