PAY AND PROTEST The consumers at the time of obtaining electric connections or thereafter, till date have not entered into any bilateral contact on this aspect. Hence the consumers under no stretch of imagination can be bound by suo motu decision of Electricity Dept to which the users are not a party. It is totally absurd to hold the aggrieved consumers at ransom, demanding first to pay the disputed bill and then protest to be heard for redressal., There is the threat of disconnections and further levy of exorbitant charges for reconnection's. The Dept takes advantage of lack of unity amongst users to fight the monopoly of the Dept. The domestic consumers are the worst and hard hit. ,The past consumption pattern, the sanctioned load should form the basis of scrutiny. of sudden surge in consumption of units . The audacious demands of bills are shocking, running into thousands and lakhs, Taking shelter and invoking such a draconian, one sided provision on the helpless consumers is abhorrent.
P.M has rightly embarked on scraping of many outdated laws on statute books that are redundant. Whenever an applicant files a suit for damages, it is not incumbent upon the opposite./accused party to first pay before filling a reply and this is general procedure. If and when the electricity Department finds that the demand raised has been genuinely substantiated, it can at best levy interest for the period of default. The unusual surge in units of domestic consumption can be due to faulty meter, wrong billing , bills paid not accounted etc against which the consumer has no control to hold him guilty. Similarly whenever arrears are billed due to the fault of the Dept, the consumers must be at liberty to pay in installments are per their convenience It is expected that the Minister for Power, a sensitive and considerate individual will immediately look into abolishing this draconian, one sided clause of harassment. Arrears of Industrial units are running into crores and so is the loss by pilferage. Alternatively, the electricity consumers in Goa need to form a registered organization to challenge the might of the Dept in unfair trade practices and monopolies act, The Dept does not own any responsibility when domestic appliances are damaged due to sudden fluctuations of high voltages and legal remedy need to be invoked. . The various types of additional charges along the bill are really burdening the consumers unfairly with consumers having no say on its justification. Pay and protest is unique principle applicable only to electricity bills under dispute nd must be abolished immeditaely Nelson Lopes Chinchinim
