Gurgaon: Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has directed the resident welfare association (RWA) of Uniworld Gardens II in Gurgaon and developer Unitech Realty Pvt Ltd to follow electricity billing rules and refund extra money collected from residents.
The panel also imposed a Rs 50,000 penalty on the RWA and ordered compliance within 30 days. It warned that if the order is not followed, an additional penalty of Rs 6,000 per day will be imposed for continued violation. The panel also barred Unitech from relying on a Supreme Court moratorium to avoid following electricity billing rules.
The petition was filed by Gurgaon resident Naresh Kumar Jindal under sections 142 and 146 of the Electricity Act, 2003. He alleged that the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) order dated Sept 2, 2022 was not followed. The dispute relates to electricity billing in Uniworld Gardens II, where power is supplied through the "single point supply" system by Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).
The petitioner alleged that Unitech and the RWA increased electricity bills arbitrarily and not in line with HERC's Single Point Supply Regulations, 2020. According to the complaint, residents were charged more than the tariff meant for domestic consumers. The builder charged about Rs 6.1 per unit, while DHBVN billed the bulk supply at Rs 5.25 per unit.
The petitioner also raised objections to additional charges such as a daily standing charge of Rs 139 and fixed charges related to prepaid meter operations. He said these were not consistent with tariff regulations.
He also alleged that the developer collected connection charges of Rs 58,683 and kept around Rs 60 lakh that should have been refunded to residents. In 2020, CGRF ruled that electricity bills should be recalculated using the telescopic tariff applicable to individual consumers. It also ordered that excess money collected from residents be refunded. The resident approached the commission in 2023 seeking enforcement of this order. In its reply to HERC, Unitech said the proceedings should not continue because of a moratorium imposed by Supreme Court in the case of Bhupinder Singh vs Unitech Ltd.
In that case, the court took control of the company through a new board to protect the interests of thousands of homebuyers. The developer argued that the Jan 20, 2020 order imposed a moratorium on starting proceedings against Unitech and its subsidiaries. It said the order also protected the newly appointed board from multiple cases across the country.
However, the petitioner argued that the moratorium was being wrongly interpreted. He said it cannot be used to justify illegal electricity billing and that compliance with tariff regulations is still mandatory
Bagish Jha is an Assistant Editor with The Times of India. Since ...
Read MoreBagish Jha is an Assistant Editor with The Times of India. Since 2015, he has been covering infrastructure, governance, administration, judiciary, taxation, and public issues, with a strong focus on South Haryana. His journalistic journey began in Nagpur, and prior to his current role in the National Capital Region, he reported extensively from Indore and across Madhya Pradesh. An alumnus of Nagpur University, Jha’s reporting consistently highlights systemic irregularities and gaps in government policies, with a particular focus on their impact on citizens. Through his work, he continues to serve as a vital link between policy and people, striving to make governance more transparent and accountable.
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