- (1.) This writ petition and other writ petitions, a list of which is annexed as Schedule 'A' to this order, which are being disposed of by this order, raise a common question as to whether the petitioners are entitled to proportionate reduction in the minimum charges payable by them for the electric energy supplied to them in the event of curtailment of the supply of the electric energy to them on account of imposition of the power cut.
(2.) The Rajasthan State Electricity Board (hereinafter referred to as 'the Electricity Board') has been constituted under the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act,1948 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Electricity (Supply) Act'. The Electricity Board undertakes the generation and supply of electricity to the various consumers in Rajasthan and in the exercise of its powers, it is governed by the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act. Under section26 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, the Electricity Board, in respect of the whole State has all the powers and obligations of a licensee under the Indian Electricity Act,1910 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Electricity Act') and the Electricity (Supply) Act and is to be deemed to be the licensee of the Board for the purposes of the Electricity Act. In exercise of the powers conferred by section49 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, the Electricity Board fixes the tariff for supply of electricity from time to time. The said tariff may either be single part tariff or a two part tariff. In a single part tariff the consumer has to pay for the electricity consumed by him during the billing period at the prescribed rates subject to the condition that he is liable to pay the minimum charges for the prescribed quantity of electricity irrespective of the fact whether he consumes it or not. The two part tariff consists of a demand charge which is fixed and an energy charge which varies with the quantity of electricity consumed during the billing period. In the two part tariff the demand charges constitute the minimum charges because the same are payable irrespective of the fact whether electricity is consumed or not. Since March 1982 the Electricity Board has abolished the two part tariff for large industrial consumers and all the High Tension consumers of electricity are being charged on the basis of a single part tariff. For the purposes of supply of electricity to the consumer, the Electricity Board enters into an agreement. In the said agreement the provision is made for the supply of maximum demand by the Electricity Board to the consumer. The said agreement also incorporates the tariff for the supply of electricity to the consumer and in the. said tariff provision is made for payment of minimum charges for the prescribed number of units by the consumer.
(3.) The petitioners in these writ petitions have industrial undertakings in the State of Rajasthan and for the purpose of those undertakings, they obtain electric supply from the Electricity Board and they have entered into agreements with the Electricity Board. In the agreement that has been entered by each of the petitioners with the Electricity Board, the maximum demand of electricity to be supplied to the consumer is prescribed and in Part II of the agreement the High Tension Tariff has been laid down which provides for the rate of charges as well as the minimum charges. As regards the minimum charges the said agreements provide as under :- "Minimum Charges : i) For consumers having a contract demand above 115 KVA and up to 1000 KVA 110 units per KVA per month of the contract demand. ii) For consumers having a contract demand above 1000 KVA 130 units per KVA per month of the contract demand." Clause 17 of the said agreement provides as under:- "17(a) If at any time the supplier is prevented from supplying electrical energy under this agreement in whole owing to all or any of the causes mentioned in clause 10 of this agreement then the minimum charges payable by the consumer shall be reduced proportionately. (b) If in the opinion of the Chief Engineer of the Board the consumer, at any time, is prevented from receiving or using the electric energy to be supplied under this agreement in whole, owing to any strike, riots, insurrection command of a civil or militery authority, fire, explosion or act of God, then the consumer shall not be liable to pay the minimum charges/ minimum guarantee for the period of the event(s) mentioned above, provided the consumer notifies the Board in writing of the occurrence of any event as noted above immediately with necessary details, to enable the consumer to prove that the occurrence is preventing/has prevented the consumer from receiving or using the full amount of power. If the consumer consumes power other than for factory lighting purposes during the occurrence of the event, he will not be entitled for the remission of minimum charges/minimum guarantee. However, the factory lighting consumption will be ignored for this purpose. The consumer will get reading of the main meter and factory lighting meter taken by the Board's authorised representative at the beginning and at the end of the event. The consumer will also keep the Board informed once in every week of further development regarding the event. No remission in the minimum charge/minimum guarantee as mentioned in the tariff schedule applicable will be considered, if no such notice is received by the Board. Subject as aforesaid, the consumer shall in any event be liable to pay the minimum charges/minimum guarantee every year as mentioned in the tariff schedule attached hereto. The decision of the Chief Engineer of the Board in this behalf shall be final and binding on the consumer." On account of shortage of electric energy in the State of Rajasthan many times the Electricity Board is unable to meet with the requirements of electric power of all its consumers and in exercise of the powers conferred on it under S.22 of the Indian Electricity Act, the Government of Rajasthan has been issuing notifications from time to time directing the Electricity Board to introduce cuts/ restrictions/staggerings in the supply of electric power and energy to the various consumers. As a result of the aforesaid restrictions, the consumers, including the petitioners, are not able to avail/obtain the full supply of electricity as per their demand and have to rest content with the restricted electric supply made available to them in accordance with there restrictions. The petitioners claim that since the petitioners are unable to obtain full supply of electric energy from the Electricity Board on account of inability on the part of Electricity Board to meet their full demand, the Electricity Board cannot realise from the petitioners the minimum charges as fixed in the agreement and that the said minimum charges should be reduced in proporation to the percentage of the restriction i.e. the power-cuts, that are enforced by the Electricity Board in pursuance of the orders that are issued by the State Government from time to time and that the Electricity Board cannot recover the minimum charges as fixed in the agreement in respect of the periods during which the power cut has been imposed by the Electricity Board. Since the Electricity Board did not agree to the proportionate reduction in the minimum charges payable by the petitioners they have approached this Court by filing these writ petitions wherein they have challenged the demand for minimum charges made by the Electricity Board in respect of periods during which the power cut was in operation.;