Leading consumer affairs organisation Consumer Education & Research Society (CERS), has demanded that sitting or former judges of the High Court be appointed as Chairmen of the various State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) in the country.
In a statement it said electricity companies have benefitted the most during last decade since implementation of the Electricity Act, 2003, and consumers have been neglected by the Commission chairpersons who are retired bureaucrats or retired Managing Directors of State Electricity Boards.
CERS, in a letter to Union Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Gujarat Energy Minister Saurabh Patel, has said the sitting or retired High Court judges would ensure greater effectiveness in implementation of regulations and rules.
Section 84 (2) of the 2003 Act gives an option to the State Governments to appoint High Court judges as Chairmen of SERCs. Initially , in 2003, a few SERCs were headed by retired High Court judges but, gradually, the State Governments started interfering in functioning of Selection Committee that ideally has exclusive powers to appoint chairman and other members.
Later, the State Governments started directing the Committees to appoint bureaucrats recommended by them and interfering in the functioning of SERCs as majority of judgments were passed in favour of electricity companies to improve their financial conditions.
The same happened in the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC). Many a time, the post of chairman is kept vacant for more than six months for bureaucrats to complete their present assignments until they take charge at GERC, the statement said.
Out of 20 SERCs in India, not a single chairman has been appointed from the judiciary recently. Even the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission did not appoint their chairman from judiciary. In contrast, all the State Commissions constituted under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, have chairmen from judiciary.