(1) On receipt of the comments from the licensee or otherwise and after conducting or having made such inquiry or local inspection conducted as the Forum may consider necessary, and after affording reasonable opportunity of being heard to the parties, the Forum shall take a decision.
(2) If, after the completion of the proceedings, the Forum is satisfied that the allegations contained in the grievance are correct, it shall –
(a) issue an order to the distribution licensee directing it to do one or more of the following things in a time-bound manner, namely:-
(i) to remove the cause of grievance in question;
1 [(ii) to return to the complainant the undue charges paid by the complainant along with the simple interest at the rate of 15 percent per annum, or at such rate as may be fixed by the Commission, for the actual number of days for which the undue disputed amount was withheld by the licensee; or]
(b) pass any other order, deemed appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case.
(3) If, after the completion of proceedings, the Forum is satisfied that the allegations contained in the grievance are incorrect or if the interim Order issued under regulation 25, need not be confirmed, the Forum shall set aside the said interim Order and restore the other party to the position to which it would have been in the absence of such interim Order.
(4) The Order of the Forum shall be reasoned and the reasons given by the Forum in support of the Order, including those by the dissenting Member, if any, shall form a part of the Order, and the Members who heard the matter shall sign the Order.
(5) In cases of grievances related to 2 [safety related issues, non-supply, connection/ disconnection/quality or reliability of supply,] the Forum shall pass the order within 2[15 days] of filing of the grievance and in cases of other grievances, the order shall be passed within 45 days of filing of the grievance:
Provided that in the event of a grievance being disposed off after the specified maximum period, the Forum shall record, in writing, the reasons for the same at the time of disposing the said grievance under intimation to the Ombudsman.
(6) The order ofss the Forum shall be communicated to the complainant and the licensee in writing within three days. A certified copy of every order passed by the Forum shall be delivered to the parties.
1 Subs. vide Not. No. HPERC-(H)(1)-1/2012 dated 26 th November, 2019 published in the R.H.P.
dated 28 th November, 2019 at p. 8253-8257 and before its substitution it stood as under:- “(ii) to return to the complainant the undue charges paid by the complainant along with the interest at the rate equal to the short Term Prime Lending Rate of the State Bank of India as on 1st April of the financial year for the period for which the undue disputed amount was withheld by the licensee; or” 2 Subs. for sub-clause (5) the words “non-supply, connection or disconnection of supply” and figure “20 days” vide Not. No. HPERC-(H)(1)-1/2012 dated 26 th November, 2019 published in the R.H.P. dated 28 th November, 2019 at p. 8253-8257.
12 Compendium of HPERC Regulations, March 2021 1 [(7) The Forum,either on its motion or on an application moved within 30 days of the order by any of the parties to the original proceedings, may, after affording an opportunity of being heard, review its order on-]
(i) the discovery of new and important matter of evidence which, after the exercise of due diligence, was not within his knowledge or could not be produced by him at the time the order was made;
(ii) on account of some mistake or error apparent from the face of the record;
(iii) for any other sufficient reasons.
2[(8) The Forum shall, within 30 days from the date of receipt of an application under sub-regulation (7) of this regulation, accept or reject such application].