CA – October15 CERC NEWS
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in monthly
CERC NEWS
Awareness programme organised at college
CERC organised an awareness programme under Grahak Suvidha Kendra on 12 September 2015 at H.K. Commerce College, Ahmedabad to make students aware of consumer rights, consumer protection, eco-friendly products and environment protection. More than 400 students and academic staff of the college participated in the programme.
The programme was inaugurated by Dr. Gopal Bhatt, the principal of H. K. Commerce College.
Mr. Uday Mawani, CEO of CERC, provided information on the activities of CERC and its role as a national consumer organisation. He also spoke about the opportunities for students to become members of CERC, to subscribe to the Hindi consumer magazine ‘Grahak Sathi’ and work as volunteers.
Mr. Apurva Dave, High Court advocate and governing body member of CERS conducted an interesting interactive session on ‘Consumer Protection Act and Financial Services’ keeping in mind the interest areas of commerce students. Mr. Abhishek Awasthi, advocate, CERC explained different types of consumer issues using case studies. Dr. Ashoka Ghosh, project coordinator of ENVIS project, explained to students how they could use smartphones and computers in an eco-friendly manner. Ms. Meghavi Joshi from CERC coordinated the programme.
CERS questions ministry on rating of state DISCOMs
The Ministry of Power recently declared rating for 40 state owned distribution companies of India. Five DISCOMs got A+ grading (80-100) which included all four DISCOMs of Gujarat, namely PGVCL, UGVCL, DGVCL and MGVCL along with one DISCOM of Punjab. CERS, which is actively involved in the power sector of Gujarat, has protested to the Union power minister about outdated selection of parameters for ranking the DISCOMs.
CERS asked how PGVCL with 23.4% losses and maximum unmetered connections was put in A+ category along with other Gujarat DISCOMs whose distribution losses are below 10%. CERS demanded revision of parameters based on technical and financial performance. CERS claimed that the present ratings are politically motivated and do not reflect the performance of DISCOMs.
CERS demands compensation for interruption in power supply
On receipt of a large number of complaints on frequent interruptions in power supply in Bopal, Shela and Sola areas handled by Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, CERS wrote to Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) demanding adequate compensation for affected consumers.
The power failure ranges from two to eight hours without prior notice to consumers. Often, electrical gadgets of consumers such as air conditioners, refrigerators and television sets are damaged due to high voltages when power supply resumes. In its representation before GERC, CERS has demanded revision in compensation amount to Rs. 25/ hour/consumer for LT and Rs. 50/hour/consumer for HT. Though there are frequent power failures, not a single rupee has been given as compensation to any consumer so far.
