Complaint Against RWAs For Clubbing Maintenance Fees With Power Bill

GHAZIABAD:

The grievance of consumers in Ghaziabad is highly noticeable. They have beared much, and that’s why the consumer grievance redressal forum of Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited ordered RWA not to club maintenance charges along with the electricity bill. They also disposed of a complaint regarding society in Indirapuram.

A Rajhans Kutumb in Indirapuram resident approached the forum and wanted their help to separate the electricity charges and maintenance fees. However, they were relieved of their grief as the forum also asked the RWA of the housing society to refund the additional amounts taken in the name of power bills with interest.

In an order (a copy of it with TOI), the forum also stated that the maintenance bills shouldn’t be clubbed with the power bill and asked the RWA to refund all the excess amount.

The complainant, Sushil Kumar, said that in September last year, he had filed a complaint with the consumer grievance redressal forum of PVVNL in Meerut over the PWA’s arbitrary charging of power bills clubbed with maintenance fees which led to an unfairly inflated bill.

However, the president of Rakhans Kutumb, Sreedhar Chidambaram, has something else to say. He says that this complaint has a vested interest behind it.

According to Sreedhar, the complainant was an RWA office bearer for a long time and had the same bill arrangement during his tenure.

Sreedhar further continued that the complainant placed the complaint after his tenure with the RWA. He further stated that electricity is also required for the water pumps, running lifts, and lighting up common areas, along with individual power consumption. As a result, there had to be a way through which these power bills needed to be added to each resident’s bills. Even the law states that RWAs should charge approximately 5% extra for the power bills used for common areas.