June 25- Goa govt will now have to compensate electricity consumers in the state within 90 days by adjusting their power bills if they fail to meet specified performance standards in power distribution as specified by Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) regulations. Consumers can claim compensation for power supply failures, delays in billing, resolving billing complaints, addressing meter issues, restoring power after faults, managing voltage fluctuations, and fixing distribution network problems. The govt is obligated to adjust bills to provide compensation within 90 days.
JERC has notified in official gazette the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for the State of Goa and Union Territories (Standard of Performance for Distribution Licensees) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2024 to this effect on June 12,2024 . The notification specified the list of Performance Parameter Standards and the Compensation payable to individual consumer in case of violation of Standard. The specified compensation amount range from Rs 40 to Rs 1000 per day or hour of delay.The amendment has also introduced new indices that Goa govt must now use to measure their performance such as Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI), Customer Average Interruption Frequency Index (CAIFI), Momentary Average Interruption Frequency Index (MAIFI), System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI). Consumers have the option to seek redress through the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) if compensation is not paid. Goa govt will also have to establish an online platform within six months for consumers to lodge grievances and seek compensation. Govt will also have to implement a unified CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to improve tracking and analyzing requested and pending services. For new electricity connections, timelines are set at 3 days for Metro Cities, 7 days for Urban Areas, 15 days for Rural Areas, and 30 days for Rural Islands upon receipt of applications as per the new amendments. As per the notification, restoration times for power supply faults range from 4 hours to 48 hours depending on the nature and location of the issue.
Notification https://digitalgoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/jerc.pdf
