Electricity Complaints — RTI to DISCOM + SERC

Electricity RTI - RTI Wiki

Every State Electricity Distribution Company (DISCOM) is a public authority under §2(h) of the RTI Act. The Electricity Act 2003 + state SERC Regulations fix Standards of Performance — billing complaints 7 days, meter replacement 15 days, new connection 30 days. State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) supervises. Beyond these standards — file RTI to DISCOM CPIO + parallel complaint to SERC.

Quick Reply: Electricity Act 2003 §57 + SERC Regulations fix SoP. DISCOM must compensate for SoP breach automatically. 🪄 Draft my DISCOM RTI →

Reviewed on: 23 April 2026.

Standards of Performance (SoP)

Service SoP timeline Compensation if breached
Billing complaint 7 working days ₹50/day under most state SERCs
Meter replacement (faulty) 15 days (urban), 30 (rural) ₹50/day
New connection 30 days (LT), 60 days (HT) ₹100/day
Voltage variation Rectify in 24h Compensation per state
Outage > 12 hours Restore within 4 hours of report Per state SERC

Sample RTI — to DISCOM CPIO

To:
The Public Information Officer,
[DISCOM name, e.g., BSES Rajdhani / Tata Power-DDL / Adani Electricity Mumbai / TANGEDCO / KSEB / BESCOM / etc.],
[Address].

Subject: RTI — consumer complaint [REF] for connection no. [NUMBER]

Under the RTI Act, 2005:

1. Date consumer complaint [REF] raised on [DATE] was received at this
   DISCOM and the dealing JE/SDO/EE.
2. Action taken to date — date of meter test, billing audit, restoration
   visit, etc.
3. Reason for delay beyond SoP timeline.
4. Compensation due under SERC SoP Regulations [STATE].
5. Last meter reading taken at premises [ADDRESS], with reading + date.
6. Bill correction process status if applicable.
7. Number of similar complaints pending at this DISCOM beyond SoP.

Rs. 10 IPO enclosed.

Yours faithfully, [Name]

Sample complaint to SERC (parallel)

For SoP breach not resolved by DISCOM, file with State Electricity Regulatory Commission's Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) + Ombudsman.

Escalation

  1. DISCOM CGRF — first internal escalation.
  2. SERC Ombudsman — second escalation.
  3. CPGRAMS parallel.
  4. RTI Day 30 → First Appeal Day 60.

Case law

  • Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution v. MERC (Bombay HC 2024) — SoP compensation enforceable; auto-credit mandated.
  • Subhash Chandra Agarwal v. BSES (CIC 2018) — DISCOM is public authority under §2(h).

Last reviewed: 24 April 2026.

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