- The seminar attended by 45 participants and started off with CUTS representatives, on behalf of CUTS/FES, sharing the basic theme of the programme and the achievement so far has made in terms of creating awareness among consumer groups to advocate their rights in the state of Rajasthan.
- Shri V. C. Jain, Superintending Engineer, Jaipur Vidhyut Vitaran Nigam Limited, Shri Radha Mohan Sharma Advocate and Expert on consumer issues, Shri Hari Prasad Yogi, President, Consumer Legal Help Society, were among the resource persons at the seminar.
- In addition to that, PRI representatives from the district, selected members of the Vidhyut Sudhar Samities, and representatives of grassroots consumer organisations participated in the seminar.
- The major thrust of this seminar was on imparting the required knowledge to the consumer activists/civil society organisations of the districts about various provisions made under the ‘Consumer Charter’ and ‘Standards of Performance’, which was released by the Distribution Companies some time back following the Regulatory Commission’s directions.
- The idea was to equip these groups with necessary knowledge and skills so that they could raise their voices in an organised manner and ensure actual implementation of the provisions made in the documents called ‘Consumer Charter’ and ‘Standards of Performance’. Though there were many peripheral issues related to the electricity distribution it was made clear to the participants at the beginning of the seminar that the focus of the discussion shall be restricted to the provisions made under ‘Consumer Charter’ and ‘Standards of Performance’
- The specifications of the quality of supply and services that the distribution companies are bound to deliver were explained to the participants at length.
- The next session started with the participants expressing their current level of understanding about regulatory hearings vis-à-vis expectations. As expected, most of the participants were not clear about the role of the Regulatory Commission. They were also not aware of the ‘Consumer Charter’ and ‘Standards of Performance’ to the distribution companies to be adhered, and their role in ensuring compliance of the provisions.
- Shri Radha Mohan Sharma, lawyer and expert on consumer issuers, delivered a talk on basic consumer advocacy skills. It was followed by an array of questions to which he responded appropriately. He specifically highlighted safety aspects vis-à-vis consumer rights. At the end of the session, representatives of grassroots consumer organisations collectively decided to join hands on such issues and raise their voices at the Regulatory Commission and other appropriate forums to protect the interests of common consumers.
- In the next session, Shri V. C. Jain, Superintending Engineer, Jaipur Vitaran Nigam Ltd. Sawai Madhopur, described the provisions of ‘Consumer Charter’ and ‘Standards of Performance’ in detail and responded to the queries of participants. This session was the longest one as there were many queries from the participants.
- Shri Hari Prasad Yogi of Consumer Legal Help Society spoke about the interface of the grievance handling mechanism of distribution companies and the Consumer Protection Act.
- In a nutshell, following was the outcome of the seminar:
- All the civil society groups present agreed to plead collectively before Regulatory Commission to safeguard consumer interests in a democratic and peaceful manner.
- They also agreed mutually to remain in touch with each other to ensure free flow of information on the issues of compliance of supply and service standards by the Distribution Company.
- All the participants assured to further disseminate the information they received during this seminar among masses.
- When a transformer or pole to be erected/replaced in rural areas the distribution companies invariably ask the consumers to transport the same to the site, however also charges from the consumer for that while preparing the cost-estimates. This is an unfair practice that being practiced by all three distribution companies. Looking a he gravity of the issue all participants requested to CUTS to raise this issue at Commission’s Advisory Committee.
- Participants decided to adopt a constructive approach and to cooperate with the Distribution Company in their efforts to reduce the theft of electricity.
- It was demanded that there should be nomination of at least one consumer representative in all dispute settlement committees, to ensure credibility of decisions.
- Quality Standards for supplies and services must be implemented with equal thrust in rural areas also.
- Distribution Company to implement the safety related performance standards on priority.