Indian Express, Mar 15, 2009

New Delhi: Sitting over an electricity bill of Rs 1.23 lakh, Habeeb Ansar, a laundry-owner at Chawri Bazaar, on Saturday chose to settle for a discount of over 60 per cent and agreed to pay Rs 33,000. Ansar-like stories were common at the “paperless” Lok Adalat for power defaulters in Delhi.
Fourteen courtrooms opened on an otherwise quiet weekend at the Delhi High Court grounds to negotiate with BSES power defaulters, pouring in as early as 9 am on the opening day of the Adalat.
The Adalat settled disputes, some pending in courts, on payment defaults up to Rs 5 lakh.
“This is truly a burden off the courts. I did not expect such a huge response to our initiative for a one-stop point to settle power disputes. It’s a pleasant surprise and a relief,” Justice Madan B Lokur, Chairperson of the HC Legal Service Committee on a tour of the BSES counters in the afternoon, told Newsline.
Counters had experts from the three wings of the discom — legal, technical and enforcement— in attendance. At the enquiry counter, consumers were greeted, their bills processed electronically and forwarded via computer to the Adalats functioning from inside HC courtrooms.