STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION LICENSEE

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 57 and 59 read with subsection 2(za) and 2(zb) of section 181 of the Electricity Act 2003 (Act No.: 36 of 2003) and all other powers enabling in this behalf, the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission specifies through these Regulations the Standards of Performance for the Distribution Licensee.

(1) These regulations may be called the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (Standards of Performance for the Distribution Licensee) Regulations, 2004.

(2) These regulations shall be applicable to all licensees engaged in distribution & retail supply of electricity in the State of Haryana.

(4) These regulations shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Haryana Government. Gazette.

(5) The Punjab General Clauses Act 1898 (Act 1 of 1898), as applicable to the state of Haryana shall apply to the interpretation of these regulations.

b. “Area of supply” means the area within which a licensee is authorised by his license to supply electricity;

d “Consumer” means any person who is supplied with electricity for his own use by a licensee or the Government or by any other person engaged in the business of supplying electricity to the public under this Act or any other law for the time being in force and includes any person whose premises are for the time being connected for the purpose of receiving electricity with the works of a licensee, the Government or such other person, as the case may be;

e “Extra High Tension/Extra High Voltage” means the voltage exceeding 33000 volts under normal conditions;

f “High Tension/High Voltage” means the voltage exceeding 440 Volts but not exceeding 33000 volts under normal conditions;

h “Low Tension/Low Voltage” means the voltage not exceeding 440 Volts under normal conditions;

i “Period of Load Shedding” means a period during which the demand is more than supply and there is no spare/reserve capacity available to meet the surplus demand and SLDC have directed the licensee to reduce load and/or to avoid overloading. During this period licensee should adhere to rotational load shedding or any other means so that the same consumer does not suffer continuously for a period as specified in the regulation. A period of grid failure will not be covered under it;

j “Period of Scheduled outage” means a period during which there is a reduction of capacity or taking out-of-service of a generating unit, power station or part of the transmission system or distribution system for scheduled repairs and preventive maintenance in a planned manner. If the above repair and maintenance activity could not be carried out within the time frame laid down in this regulation on account of abnormal circumstances of a given job, the area in-charge need to obtain approval of CE/ SE (Operation) for the extended period of outage. The licensee would submit a monthly report of such cases to the Commission. Period of forced outage will not be covered under it.

k All other expressions used herein but not specifically defined herein but defined in the Act shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Act. The other expressions used herein but not specifically defined in these regulations or in the Act but defined under the Haryana Electricity Reform Act, 1997 shall have the meaning assigned to them under the said Act, provided that such definitions in the Haryana Electricity Reform Act, 1997 are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003.

3.1 The Standards of Performance specified shall be the minimum standard of service with reference to quality, continuity and reliability of services that a licensee shall achieve in discharge of his obligations as a licensee.

3.2 Standards of Performance specified in Schedule I relates to Guaranteed Standards of Performance for which consumers against whom no arrear is pending on the date of violation are eligible for compensation in the manner provided in the Schedule I in case the Licensee fails to achieve the Standards of Performance.

3.3 In case of applications requiring supply under agriculture category (Agriculture Pump sets) licensee’s obligation shall be limited to the number of connections that can be covered within the target fixed by the State Government for release of agricultural connections for a financial year. The target for an ensuing year should be fixed and made public at least 2 months before the commencement of the year. The licensee shall inform the applicants in writing within 15 days of receipt of applications, if the applicants’ case cannot be covered in the programme of release of Agriculture Pump set connections fixed for the year.

3.4 Schedule II relates to Overall Standards of Performance, which indicates the level of performance the licensee shall seek to achieve in the discharge of his obligations as a licensee.

The Commission may, at any time, add, vary, alter, modify or amend any of the provisions of these regulations including the contents of the Schedule I, II and III.

5.1 The standards of performance specified in these regulations shall remain suspended during Force Majeure conditions such as war, mutiny, civil commotion, riot, flood, cyclone, lightning, earthquake or other causes beyond the control of the Licensee and strike, lockout, fire affecting the licensee’s installations and activities.

5.2 The Commission may by a general or special order, issued for the purpose, after hearing the Licensee and the affected consumer group relieve the Licensee from the liability to compensate the consumers for any default in the performance of any standard if the Commission is satisfied that such default is for reasons other than those attributable to the Licensee & beyond the control of the Licensee and further that the Licensee has otherwise made efforts to fulfill his obligations.

6.1 If the Licensee fails to meet the Standards of Performance specified in Schedule I, the licensee shall pay to the affected consumer against whom no arrear is pending on the date of violation, the compensation as indicated against each of the Standards of Performance in Schedule I.

6.2 The Licensee shall register every complaint of a consumer. The Licensee shall computerise the registration of every complaint of a consumer through automatic answering machine or any other such means intimating the complaint number to the consumer automatically.

6.3 The Licensee shall maintain relevant records consumer-wise regarding the Standards of performance in order to give a fair treatment to all consumers and avoid any dispute regarding violation of standards.

6.4 All payment of compensation shall be made by way of adjustment against existing, current and/or future bills for supply of electricity.

Provided the compensation shall be paid in Cash/ Demand draft wherever the claimant ceases to be the consumer of the utility.

Provided that all the compensation shall be made within 90 days from the date of violation of a guaranteed standard of performance. If the Compensation is not adjustable in the existing, current and/or future bills of the supply of electricity the same should be paid in cash / demand draft to ensure that the compensation is paid within 90 days from the date of violation of a guaranteed standard of performance.

This mode of payment requires the Licensee to pay the compensation amount to the affected consumer automatically in the next billing cycle, following non-compliance of a particular standard.

This mode of payment requires the consumer to bring to the notice of the Licensee that the standard has been violated and accordingly claim the compensation amount from the Licensee. In respect of payment of compensation, the Licensee shall take a decision and, if found liable, shall pay the compensation to the consumer within 90 (ninety) days from the date of violation of a guaranteed standard of performance.

8.1 Every Licensee shall furnish to the Commission the following information in the Performa placed at Schedule-III.

a The level of performance achieved in respect of matters covered in schedule I and II of these Regulations shall be furnished quarterly.

b The number of cases in which compensation was paid under these Regulations and amount of the compensation in each case, shall be furnished quarterly.

8.2 The Commission shall arrange for publication of the above information, at least once in a year, in the manner as deemed fit.

(a) The following reliability/outage indices are prescribed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard 1366 of 1998. The licensee shall compute and report the value of these indices as per the formula and methodology specified below from 2004-05 onwards:

The Indices shall be computed for the Distribution licensee as a whole by stacking, for each month, all the 11 KV feeders in the supply area, excluding those serving predominantly agricultural loads, and then aggregating the number and duration of all interruptions in that month for each feeder. The Indices would then be computed using the following formula:

A_i = Total number of sustained interruptions (each longer than 5 minutes) on i^th feeder for the month

n = Number of 11KV feeders in the licensed area of supply (excluding those serving predominantly agricultural loads)

B_i = Total duration of all sustained interruptions on i^th feeder for the month.

C_i = Total number of momentary interruptions (each less than or equal to 5 minutes) on i^th feeder for the month

Note: The feeders must be segregated into rural and urban and the value of the indices must be reported separately for each month. However interruptions due to load restrictions, power cut, shut down shall not be taken into account while calculating the indices

(i) The licensee shall compute the value of these indices separately for feeders serving predominantly agricultural loads. The methodology for computation of indices shall remain the same as in the case of other feeders.

(ii) Based on the information provided by the licensees, the Commission would notify the target levels for these indices annually.

Subject to the provisions of the Act and these regulations, the Commission may, from time to time, issue orders and ‘practice’ directions in regard to the implementation of the Regulations and Procedures to be followed.

10.1 If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the provisions of these regulations, the Commission may, by general or special order, direct the licensee to do anything not being inconsistent with the provisions of the Act, which appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulties.

10.2 The Licensee may make an application to the Commission and seek suitable orders to remove any difficulty that may arise in implementation of these Regulations.

The standard indicating the maximum time limit for rendering the service is in line with the documents already approved by the Commission. Thus the licensee should not face any difficulty in the implementation of the same. However, the Licensee would be allowed a period of six months from the date of notification of this regulation for putting the required infrastructure in place. From 1^st February 2005 the mock exercise would be carried out to make the system perfect and implementable. The actual payment of monetary compensation to the consumer w.r.t the provisions of these regulations would start from 1^st August 2005 for urban consumers and from 1^st August 2006 for rural consumers.

Nothing in these regulations shall affect the rights and privileges of the consumers under any other law including the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (Act 68 of 1986).

Sr. No.	Nature of Service			Standard (indicating Maximum time limit for rendering service)		Amount of Compensation payable to affected consumer	Manner of payment
1	Normal Fuse Off	Cities and Towns		Within 4 hours	Within 2 hrs. of receipt of complaint, complainant shall be informed about the likely time to be taken for restoration of supply if asked for by the complainant.	Rs. 100 in each case of default	Automatic
		Rural Area		Within 8 hours
2	Line Breakdowns	Cities and Towns		Within 8 hours (12 hrs if pole gets broken)		Rs. 100 to each affected consumer	Automatic
		Rural Area		Within 16 hours (24 hrs if pole gets broken)
3	Distribution Transformer Failure	Cities and Towns		Within 24 hours		Rs. 100 per day or part thereof to each affected consumer subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-	Automatic
		Rural Area		Within 48 hours
4	Major Power Failure involving Power Transformer / Equipment etc.	Cities and Towns		Within 7 days. Alternate arrangement, to restore the supply to the affected area, to be made within 24 hrs.
		Rural Area
5	Period of Load Shedding	Not to exceed 4 hrs. per day continuously for 4 days		Normal supply to be restored within 72 hrs.		Rs. 100 per day or part thereof to each affected consumer subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-	Automatic
6	Period of Scheduled outages	Maximum duration at a stretch		Not to exceed 8 hours on any day	Consumers to be informed, at least, 24 hrs. in advance	Rs. 200 to each affected consumer	Automatic
		Restoration of supply		By 6 PM on any day
7	Voltage Variations LT= +/- 6 % HV = +6 % & - 9% EHV = +10% & -12.5 %	Where no expansion of network is involved		Within 4 hrs. in cities & towns & 8 hrs. in rural area	Within 2 hrs. of receipt of complaint, complainant shall be informed about the likely time to be taken for redressal of complaint	Rs. 100 in each case of default	Automatic
		Where up-gradation of LT distribution system is required		Within 60 days		Rs. 100 per day or part thereof in each case of default to each affected consumer subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-
		Where up-gradation of High Tension/ EHT distribution system is required		Within 180 days
		Opening of neutral and neutral voltage exceeding 2% of supply voltage		Within 4 hour		Rs. 100 in each case of default
8	Meter Complaints	Inspect and check correctness		Within 7 days of receipt of meter testing fee		Rs.100 for each day of delay subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
		Replace slow/fast meters		Within 7 days of its being so established on checking.
		Replace creeping or stuck meters		Within 7 days of its being so established on checking.
		Replace burnt meters if cause not attributable to consumer		Within 7 days of receipt of complaint		Rs.200 in each case of default
		Replace burnt meters in all other cases		Within 24 hours of payment of charges by consumer
9	Application for new connection/ additional load/ Temporary Connection	Release of supply where service is feasible from existing network		Within one month of receipt of application complete in all respect along with prescribed charges		Rs. 200 for each day of default, subject to Section 44 of Act and also subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
		Release of supply where Distribution Network expansion / Commissioning of New Sub Station required for providing connection		Immediately after expansion/ Commissioning or with in such period as specified by the Commission		Rs. 200 for each day of default in case of LT, Rs. 500 for each day of default in case of HT & EHT & Rs. 1000 for each day of default in case of Commissioning of New Sub Station subject to Section 44 of Act	To be claimed
		Agriculture Pump Sets		Within 30 days after attaining seniority (The no. of new connections shall be limited to the target fixed for the year)		Rs.100 for each day of default subject to Section 44 of Act and also subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.
10	Transfer of ownership, change of category			Within 7 days of receipt of application complete in all respect		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
11	Conversion of LT single phase to LT three phase, Conversion from LT to HT and vice-versa			Within 30 days from the date of payment of charges		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
12	Redressal of consumer’s complaint regarding billing		If no additional information is required	Within 24 hours of receipt of complaint		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
			If additional information is required	Within 7 days of receipt of complaint
13	Reconnection of supply following disconnection		Cities and Towns	Within 6 hours of receipt of payment from consumer		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
			Rural Area	Within 12 hours of receipt of payment from consumer
14	Refund of Advance Consumption Deposits/ Consumption Security, meter Security			Within 30 days after receipt of request		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	To be claimed
15	Issue of No Due Certificates			Latest by 5PM next day of receipt of request		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	To be claimed
16	Shifting of meter/ Service Connection/ Lines/ Equipments		Shifting of meter/ Service Connection	Within 15 days after receipt of request along with prescribed charges		Rs. 100 for each day of default subject to a maximum of Rs 3000/-.	Automatic
			Shifting of LT / HT Lines	Within 45 days after receipt of request along with prescribed charges			To be claimed
			Shifting of Transformer Structure	Within 60 days after receipt of request along with prescribed charges

S. N.	Nature of Service			Standard (Indicating Time Limit for rendering Service)	Overall Standards of Performance
1	Normal fuse-off	Cities and Towns		Within 4 hours	99%
		Rural Area		Within 8 hours
2	Line Breakdowns	Cities and Towns		Within 8 hours (12 hrs. if pole gets broken)	95%
		Rural Area		Within 16 hours (24 hrs. if pole gets broken)
3	Distribution Transformer Failure	Cities and Towns		Within 24 hours	95%
		Rural Area		Within 48 hours
4	Major Power Failure involving Power Transformer / Equipment etc.	Cities and Towns		Within 7 days. Alternate arrangement, to restore the supply to the affected area, to be made within 24 hrs.	95%
		Rural Area
5	Period of Load Shedding	Not to exceed 4 hrs. per day continuously for 4 days		Normal supply to be restored with in 72 hrs.	95%
6	Period of Scheduled outage	Maximum duration at a stretch		Not to exceed 8 hours on any day	99%
		Restoration of supply		By 6 PM on any day
7	Voltage Variations	Where no expansion of network is involved		Within 4 hrs. in cities & towns & 8 hrs. in rural area	95%
		Where up-gradation of LT distribution system is required		Within 60 days	90%
		Where up-gradation of High Tension /EHT distribution system is required		Within 180 days	85%
		Opening of neutral and neutral voltage exceeding 2% of supply voltage		Within 4 hrs.	99%
8	Meter Complaints	Inspect and check correctness		Within 7 days of receipt of meter testing fee	95%
		Replace slow/fast meters		Within 7 days of its being so established on checking.
		Replace creeping or stuck meters		Within 7 days of receipt of complaint
		Replace burnt meters if cause not attributable to consumer		Within 7 days of receipt of complaint
		Replace burnt meters in all other cases		Within 24 hours of payment of charges by consumer
9	Application for new connection/Additional load connection/ Temporary	Release of supply where service is feasible from existing network		Within one month of receipt of application complete in all respect along with prescribed charges	95%
		Release of supply where Distribution Network expansion / Commissioning of New Sub Station required for providing connection		Immediately after expansion/ Commissioning or with in such period as specified by the Commission	95%
		Agriculture Pump Sets		Within 30 days after attaining seniority (The no. of new connections shall be limited to the target fixed for the year)	80%
10	Transfer of ownership, change of Category			Within 7 days of receipt of application complete in all respect	99%
11	Conversion of LT single phase to LT three phase, Conversion from LT to HT and vice-versa			Within 30 days from the date of payment of charges	99%
12	Redressal of consumer’s complaint regarding billing		If no additional information is required	Within 24 hours of receipt of Complaint	99%
			If additional information is required	Within 7 days of receipt of Complaint	99%
13	Reconnection of supply following disconnection		Cities and Towns	Within 6 hours of receipt of payment from consumer	99%
			Rural Areas	Within 12 hours of receipt of payment from consumer	99%
14	Refund of Advance Consumption Deposits/ Consumption Security, meter Security			Within 30 days after receipt of request	99%
15	Issue of No Due Certificates			Latest by 5PM next day of receipt of request	99%
16	Shifting of meter/ Service Connection/ Lines/ Equipments		Shifting of meter/ Service Connection	Within 15 days after receipt of request along with prescribed charges	95%
			Shifting of LT / HT Lines	Within 45 days after receipt of request along with prescribed charges
			Shifting of Transformer Structure	Within 60 days after receipt of request along with prescribed charges
17	Distribution Transformer failure rate		Urban areas		Shall not exceed 5% p.a.
			Rural area		Shall not exceed 10% p.a.
18	Faulty Meters (MNR, Burnt, Sticky, etc.)				Shall not exceed 1 % of metered installations
19	Billing Mistakes				Shall not exceed 0.1% of consumers billed
20	Voltage variations at supply point				The voltage variation shall be within the limits stipulated hereunder a) LT system, between +6% to -6% b) HT system between +6% to –9% c) EHT system, between +10% to 12.5 %
21	Reliability Indices		The reliability indices mentioned hereunder shall be computed separately for urban and rural feeders. a) Average number of interruptions in 11KV feeders. b) Average duration of interruptions in 11KV feeders c) Average number of interruptions per consumer d) Average duration of interruption per consumer,		The Commission will lay down the standards separately later on.

Name of the Licensee                                     :
Total No. of services                                       :
Total No. of Distribution Transformers        :

S. N.	Nature of Service			Nos. of complaints received	Nos. of complaints attended	% age attended	Overall Standards of Performance
1	Normal fuse-off Calls	Cities and Towns					99%
1	Normal fuse-off Calls	Rural Area					99%
2	Line Breakdowns Calls	Cities and Towns					95%
2	Line Breakdowns Calls	Rural Area					95%
3	Distribution Transformer Failure	Cities and Towns					95%
3	Distribution Transformer Failure	Rural Area					95%
4	Major Power Failure involving Power Transformer / Equipment etc.	Cities and Towns					95%
4		Rural Area					95%
5	Period of Load Shedding	Not to exceed 4 hrs. per day continuously for 4 days					95%
6	Period of Scheduled outage	Maximum duration at a stretch					99%
6	Period of Scheduled outage	Restoration of supply					99%
7	Voltage Variations	Where no expansion of network is involved					95%
		Where up-gradation of LT distribution system is required					90%
		Where up-gradation of High Tension / EHT distribution system is required					85%
		Opening of neutral and neutral voltage exceeding 2% of supply voltage					99%
8	Meter Complaints	Inspect and check correctness					95%
		Replace slow/fast meters
		Replace creeping or stuck meters
		Replace burnt meters if cause not attributable to consumer
		Replace burnt meters in all other cases
9	Application for new connection/Additional load connection/ Temporary	Release of supply where service is feasible from existing network					95%
		Release of supply where Distribution Network expansion / Commissioning of New Sub Station required for providing connection					95%
		Agriculture Pump Sets					80%
10	Transfer of ownership, change of Category						99%
11	Conversion of LT single phase to LT three phase, Conversion from LT to HT and vice-versa						99%
12	Redressal of consumer’s complaint regarding billing		If no additional information is required				99%
12	Redressal of consumer’s complaint regarding billing		If additional information is required				99%
13	Reconnection of supply following disconnection		Cities and Towns				99%
13	Reconnection of supply following disconnection		Rural Areas				99%
14	Refund of Advance Consumption Deposits/ Consumption Security, meter Security						99%
15	Issue of No Due Certificates						99%
16	Shifting of meter/ Service Connection/ Lines/ Equipments		Shifting of meter/ Service Connection				95%
			Shifting of LT / HT Lines
			Shifting of Transformer Structure
17	Distribution Transformer failure rate		Urban areas				Shall not exceed 5% p.a.
17	Distribution Transformer failure rate		Rural area				Shall not exceed 10 % p.a.
18	Faulty Meters (MNR, Burnt, Sticky, etc.)						Shall not exceed 1% of metered installations
19	Billing Mistakes						Shall not exceed 0.1% of consumers billed
20	Voltage variations at supply point						The voltage variation shall be within the limits stipulated hereunder a) LT system, between +6% to -6% b) HT system, between + 6% to -9% c) EHT system, between +10% to –12.5%
21	Reliability Indices		The reliability indices mentioned hereunder shall be computed separately for urban and rural feeders. a) Average number of interruptions in 11KV feeders. b) Average duration of interruptions in 11KV feeders c) Average number of interruptions per consumer d) Average duration of interruption per consumer,				The Commission will lay down the standards separately later on.