Baramulla, Apr 16: In a significant ruling by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Baramulla, the negligence and dereliction of duty by officials of the Power Development Department (PDD) have been severely penalised.
The Commission has ordered the seizure of the salary head account of the PDD Baramulla department and mandated officials to pay a hefty sum of Rs 30,000 to the complainant, Abdul Ahad Khan, a resident of Narwaw Baramulla.
The ruling stems from a complaint filed by Khan last year, wherein he discovered a duplicate consumer ID generated in his name for his residential house. Despite regular payments towards the original consumer ID, Khan was shocked to learn of the existence of a second ID, by his name accompanied by an outstanding bill of Rs 31,410.
Investigations conducted by a Junior Engineer of the PDD department Baramulla revealed the existence of this erroneous consumer ID, leading to recommendations for its cancellation. However, no action was taken by the PDD Baramulla department, prompting Khan to seek redressal through the consumer commission.
“The consumer ID no 18188 does not exist anywhere,” reported the JE and recommended to the Assistant Executive Engineer concerned for the cancellation of the false consumer ID generated in his name.
However, despite the recommendations of the Junior Engineer of the PDD department, the higher ups of the PDD department continued to keep a silence over the issue, causing “mental agony” to the complainant.
Despite repeated notices, the department failed to appear before the commission, exacerbating Khan’s ordeal. The commission scrutinised documents, witness statements, and the engineer’s report, concluding that the department’s actions amounted to deficiency of service under the Consumer Protection Act 2019.
“The arbitrary generation of a duplicate consumer ID and the levying of a frivolous bill caused mental agony and harassment to the complainant,” stated the commission’s order.