FESCO Detection Bill: A Comprehensive Guide
Are you willing to know about a detection bill? We are here to educate you about the detection bill, its policy, how it is served and much more.
If a consumer is involved in illegal activities of power theft like direct hooking, lowness of meter or tempering of meter, then he is served a detection bill.
We can say that it is an assessment bill on account of power theft from the national grid served to a person who is involved in theft.
Factors for Detection Bill
A detection bill will be served if a person is involved in:
Rules for Issuing a Detection Bill
Before serving such type of bill FESCO has to follow some rules, we enlist these rules:
If the seals of the meter are broken but theft is not proved then a detection bill will not served.
The Procedure of the Detection Bill
The process of assessment and issuing this bill is divided into 2 types i.e. direct hooking and slowness of meter. We can explain these types in simple words as follows
For Direct Hooking
If a consumer is involved in power theft by direct hooking then he will be served this bill. Such consumers are further divided into 2 types. These are explained in the following lines.
Now you can easily calculate your bill online for free, visit Bill Calculator and get your estimated bill instantly.
Registered Consumers
If a consumer has installed an electricity meter at his premises then he is called a registered consumer. These consumers are dealt with under sections 39 and 39A of the Electricity Act. An FIR is lodged and a detection bill is served.
For further information visit the Official Site of Ministry of Energy.
Unregistered Consumers
If a consumer has no electricity meter installed then he is termed as an unregistered consumer. The inspection team will inform the concerned SDO, XEN, SE or Chief Executive for further action.
For them, a universal reference number will be generated on which they will be charged the detection amount.
For Meter Tempering
Sometimes meters are slowed down by tempering or any mechanical fault to show lower readings for consumption. Such meters are detected with special types of equipment.
The competent authority will decide the bill amount based on the load sanctioned and the duration for meter tempering.
The final authority is the CEO in all such cases. If the meter tempering is not proved then no detection bill will be issued.
Bill Approval
The surveillance team will recommend such bills against consumers and the competent authority will approve it. The senior officer from the recommended official is the competent approval authority.
Service of Detection Bill
After approval from the competent authority, this bill will be served to the consumer through the concerned revenue officer. Such bills are prepared on a special proforma by the revenue officer.
Review Committee
Although these bills are generated very carefully, a review committee is formed before serving to consumers. The committee will not only review the bill but also propose disciplinary action if any official is involved in this.
Criteria for forming a committee
The following criteria are followed to form the review committee:
Bills approved by XEN
If a bill is approved by the XEN then the review committee will be formed as
Bills Approved by CEO
If the bill is approved by the Superintending Engineer of the CEO then the committee will be formed as:
Disputes
If a consumer is not satisfied with the serving of such bill then he can go to the competent authority for review or appeal. If he did not want to go to the competent authority then he can lodge a petition in the court against the concerned DSICO.
If a bill is served then he has to pay this bill unless abolished by the competent authority or by the court.
If you are not satisfied with this or any services of the FESCO then you can register a complaint online, to know the process visit Complaints.
Frequently Asked Questions
Final Thoughts
We should not use electricity illegally as it is a national asset. We should report if our meter is not working well so that the company can replace it. We should report if anyone near us is indulged in such illegal activities.
