(1) Without prejudice to right which a consumer may have apart from the rights conferred upon him under section 42 of the Act, the said section 42 requires every distribution licensee to establish a Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum as per the guidelines of the State Commission and any consumer who is aggrieved by non-redressal of his grievance by the forum, may make a representation for the redressal of his grievance to an authority to be known as Ombudsman, to be appointed or designated by the State Commission, who is to settle the grievance of the consumer within such time and in such manner as may be specified by the State Commission.
(2) The objective of these Regulations is to lay down the guidelines for setting up the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum under section (5) of section 42 of the Act and the time limits within which and the manner in which the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum and the Ombudsman, to be appointed under sub-section (6) of section 42 of the Act, shall settle the grievances of the consumers.
(3) These Regulations shall be applicable to all the distribution licensees, in the State of Himachal Pradesh, in their respective areas of supply.
(4) Nothing contained in these Regulations shall, expressly or impliedly, restrict the rights and privileges of the consumers available to them under the Internal Executive Disputes Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM) within the distribution licensee and any consumer, who is not satisfied with the solution offered by the licensee under such Internal Executive Disputes Resolution Mechanism, may file the representation under these Regulations.