representative image Chennai: owning two flats A person in an apartment building having interlinking route will not be eligible to enjoy two different electricity service connections even if two different property taxes and maintenance charges are paid, Tamil Nadu Electricity Ombudsman Said.
Lokpal rejected petitioner S Manimekalai’s plea MylaporeThat the internal road connecting the two houses was only a temporary arrangement as they were senior citizens.
It said that the interlinking route was violated TNERC The distribution code and the State Government will suffer loss as the petitioner will enjoy 200 units of free electricity.
TangedcoIn 2023, the Assistant Engineer of Loose Section received a complaint from an anonymous person claiming misuse of electricity by creating internal routes by two flats in an apartment in Mylapore. TANGEDCO officials inspected the premises belonging to Manimekalai and confirmed that there was an internal link between the two flats by demolishing a portion of the wall separating the houses.
While Manimekalai was issued a notice to merge both the connections, she approached the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF). Manimekalai’s petition was rejected, after which he appealed to the Lokpal. In the appeal, he emphasized that the temporary opening between the two properties did not make the two flats a single unit for legal or electrical purposes.
“Both the flats have completely separate identities with different property documents like separate house tax bills, separate water tax bills, separate kitchens and separate maintenance bills,” he said.
However, citing sub-regulation 15 of the Distribution Code 27, which states that more than one service connection can be provided in a flat system only when there is permanent physical separation between tenants, the Ombudsman rejected the CGRF order. Upheld and directed the petitioner to merge the connections.
