Section 138 Electricity Act 2003

Definition

According to section 138 B of electricity act of India if we interfere with a meter by illegally connecting or disconnecting to an electric line or any line which is disconnected on dues and consumer connect meter without permission of the department(licensee) then it will be also counted as electricity theft. And punishment, compounding, and assessment will be similar as in section 135 of the electricity act. In this article, we will tell you about section 138 and its clause in a simple way so that you can understand it easily.

Download UPPCL ORDER regarding compounding and assessment in Section 138B

Section 138 of the Electricity Act

If any person does interference with meter and work of departmental staff then it will be illegal to do so.
Clause (a)-If any person unofficially connects any illegal meter with an electric line that is not of the department or disconnects the same with the electric line.
Clause (b)– If any connection disconnected temporarily by the department due to any following reason like-
1- Disconnection was done on dues.
2- Disconnection was done due to the PF of connection is below .75.
3- Disconnection was made due to any court order.
4- Disconnection was made due to any illegal theft found on-premise.
5- Disconnection was made due to the meter room is not in proper ways.
6- Disconnection was done due to any other temporary case.
And consumer illegal reconnect meter with an electric line either lt line or ht line without permission of department.
Clause (c)– if any person/consumer laid a cause which connects up any work to communicate with some of the other work that is related to the electricity department.

Clause (d)– if any person or consumer deliberately damage any meter, indicator, CT, PT, or any other electrical apparatus belonging to the electricity department. Also if consumers illegally alter the index of any meter, an electrical indicator for registering the reading.

Punishment in section 138 of Electricity Act

If any consumer does the above illegal act then in that case consumer shall be imprisoned for up to 3 years or a fine of 10000 rupees or both(means imprisoned and fine) it depends upon the magisterial power of a judge of the special court. , if the consumer, continues the offense then a daily fine which may extend to five hundred rupees shall be imposed.
‘interference with meters or works of licensee’ under section 138 of the Electricity Act of 2003 also relates to the theft of electricity and hence, during checking of if it is found that the means or cause for making such illegal connection exists as described in clause (a) or without permission reconnection as described in clause (b) or such communication as described in clause (c).or cause of alteration or prevention as described in clause(d). then it shall be presumed that the consumer is doing an illegal act knowingly. An FIR will be lodged against that person in the nearby police station. One more thing to be noted that the Meter is always considered under the custody of the consumer whether it is his property or not.

Compounding in case of Section 138 Electricity Act-

According to the supreme court order ‘interference with meters or works of licensee’ under section 138 of the Electricity Act of 2003 also shall be treated as the theft of electricity. in a similar way as in section 135 assessing officer is allowed to take compounding and assessment. Because Section 138 is also indirectly related to the offense of theft. In 138b compounding shall be charged according to section 152 of the electricity act.

Compounding Category Wise-

• compounding For domestic connection 4000 / kw for 2 kw and above case. But for 1 kw connection 2000 /kw
• compounding For agriculture PTW Connection -2000 /hp
• compounding For Commercial connection case- 10000 /kw
• compounding For industrial connection-20000/kw