In a successful exercise designed to avoid judicial delays, BSES, one of Delhi's two electricity distribution companies (discoms), has settled a large number of power theft cases with a value of around Rs 29 crore through special Lok Adalats, it announced on Monday.
The computerised Lok Adalats organised over the weekend as a paperless process by BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and its sister discom in the capital, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. (BYPL), settled more than 3,000 cases, according to a BSES release.
The special courts organised on February 10-11 was the second Lok Adalat organised by BSES discoms in the last couple of months.
"Breaking all previous records, the Lok Adalats organised in December 2017 had settled over 5,600 power theft cases with a value of around Rs 50 crore," it said.
"The last 19 Special Lok Adalats, including the latest ones, have resolved over 30,500 cases with a value of around Rs 230 crore," it added.
The Lok Adalats were organised by the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and BSES at three premises simultaneously - the District Courts at Karkardooma, Saket, and Dwarka.
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BSES said the special courts provided customers in east, central, south and west Delhi a one-time opportunity for an amicable and on-the-spot settlement of cases relating to direct theft and meter tampering.
"Lok Adalats are not only a great success but also a great leveller. Fancy cars like Mercedes, BMWs, Honda Accords jostled for parking space with more humble modes like motorcycles, scooters and even cycles over the weekend at the District Courts," a BSES spokesperson said.
Cases that are either pending in any court of law, or are yet to be filed in any such court, were taken up by the Lok Adalats, he added.
Besides, these Lok Adalats were an environment-friendly affair. "BSES and DSLSA took special care to make the Lok Adalats paperless," the statement said. It also said that customers were given sufficient time to pay up in all the settled cases.
"Further, cash counters were set up, enabling the customers to pay their bills on-the-spot. They can also pay at the designated BRPL/BYPL offices," it said.
BSES also facilitated consumers to apply for on-the-spot re-connection following settlement of dues, as well as applying for on-the-spot new connections, the discom added.
--IANS
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