The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has notified Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Forum for Redressal of Grievances of the Consumers and Ombudsman) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2022 to amend the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (Forum for Redressal of Grievances of the Consumers and Ombudsman) Regulations, 2018.
Key points:
- Regulation 5, which specifies Constitution of Forum, sub-regulation (3) has been modified from three members to five members.
“(3) Forum shall consist of five members including the Chairperson.”
- Regulation 6, which specifies Qualifications for appointments of Chairperson and Members of the Forum, has been modified and the requirement ofossessing degree in Engineering from a recognized university has been removed for appointment of Chairperson.
6. Qualifications for appointments of Chairperson and Members of the Forum –
(1) Chairperson and Members shall be persons of ability, integrity and standing who have adequate knowledge of, and have experience of at least 20 years in dealing with problems relating to engineering, finance, commerce, economics, law, management, administration or consumer affairs with minimum qualification of a graduate degree from a recognized university:
Provided that out of five members (including Chairperson), One Member shall be designated as Legal Member and one Member shall be Technical.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-Regulation (1), the Commission may appoint any person as the Chairperson from amongst persons who is, or has been, a District Judge:
Provided that nothing contained in these Regulations for procedure for appointment of Chairperson shall apply to appointment of a person as Chairperson who is or has been a District Judge.
(3) The Legal Member shall be a person possessing a degree in law from a recognized university and having at least 20 years of experience in handling legal matters.
(4) The Technical Member shall be a person possessing degree in Electrical/Electronic engineering from a recognized university having at least 20 years’ experience. He shall also have adequate knowledge of power sector and have shown capacity in dealing with problems relating to consumer affairs.
(5) The age of the applicant on the date of occurrence of vacancy shall be such that he may be able to serve at least one term of three (3) years at the Forum.
(6) No person shall be eligible to be appointed as Chairperson of the Forum if he has been in the service of a Distribution Licensee or in the holding company or subsidiary of such holding company of a Distribution Licensee at any time during preceding two (2) years from the date of occurrence of the vacancy:
Provided that for this sub-regulation, the service rendered as a Member of the Forum shall not be considered as service of a Distribution Licensee.
(7) No person shall be appointed to the Forum or continue to be a member if he suffers from any of the disqualifications mentioned in Regulation 10 (3) or if he has reached the age of 67.”
- Regulation 15, which specifies Grievance Handling Procedure of the Forum, sub-regulation (11) has been modified from two members in quorum for the Forum to three members in quorum.
“(11) The quorum of the Forum shall be three and each member shall have one vote and in case of equality of votes, the Chairperson of the Forum or the senior most member of the Forum discharging the functions of the Chairperson of the Forum presiding over the meeting, as the case may be, shall have a casting vote.”
- Regulation 39, which specifies Power of Relaxation has been inserted, namely:
39. Power of Relaxation-
The Commission may in public interest and for reasons to be recorded in writing relax any provisions of these regulations.”
