As per the UPERC guidelines, the builder cannot deduct maintenance charges from the pre-paid electricity meters installed in individual households.
Four Greater Noida West builders were issued notice on Tuesday by the Noida Power Corporation Limited (NPCL) for including the maintenance and other charges in the electricity bill of the pre-paid meters fixed in the high-rises.
The builders who have been issued the notice are Gaursons Promoters, Supertech, Jyotirmay Infracon and Mahagun India.
As per the guidelines laid by Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC), apart from regular electricity charges, the builder cannot deduct maintenance charges i.e. common area maintenance charges, water charges, club charges and others from the pre-paid electricity meters installed in individual households. The NPCL had earlier also issued a warning to these builders.
The notice was served after complaints were received from over 250 residents of the societies situated in Gaur City 1 and 2 via mail complaining of being charged for the maintenance through the pre-paid meter by the builders. Residents of Supertech's Eco Village 1, 2 and 3 also made the same complaint.
The maintenance charges were also being levied on Mahagun Mywood and several societies of Infrocon in Greater Noida West.
According to the sources, several other builders who have been charging the maintenance cost from the resident will be issued similar notices soon.
Meanwhile, the residents of these societies are clueless as to how this issue of deduction of maintenance charges from the electricity bills can be resolved.
One resident of Gaur City 2 said, " Installing individual connection will be a burden on the residents and a mid-way solution has to be found for this".
Deepak Gupta of Gaur City 1 said, "A decision will be reached based on the agreement from 51 percent of residents."
Gupta further added that the NPCL has recommended that the builder should install two meters, one for electricity another for maintenance charges.
Sumit Saxena, a resident of Supertech Ecogreen said, "If a resident has paid their electricity bill but did not pay the maintenance charge, their connection will be scrapped, which is wrong as per the norms". He further added, that since the builder is the intermediary between the NPCL and residents, the per unit charge is the maximum. For instance, in our society, we are charged Rs 7 per unit while the maintenance charge included is based on per square feet rate.
