Electricity complaint: where to go and your rights

The steps everywhere in India

1. Complain to your discom first. Use its helpline, website or office, and write down the complaint number.
2. Wait for the time limit in your state's Standards of Performance. Keep your bills and letters.
3. If the discom does not solve the complaint, file a grievance with the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF).
4. The forum normally decides within 30 days, and must decide within 45 days.
5. If the forum does not decide in time, or you disagree with its order, appeal to the Electricity Ombudsman.
6. Appeal within your state's time limit. Some states ask you to deposit part of the disputed amount first.

Pick your state

• Madhya Pradesh: We could not read the Madhya Pradesh regulations because the official copies exist only as scanned images, so we do not cover Madhya Pradesh yet.

Your rights under the national rules

• Meter test within 30 days. If you complain about meter readings, a stopped meter, a broken seal or a burnt meter, the discom must test the meter. The test must happen within 30 days of your complaint. Source
• Check meter within 5 days. If the readings do not match your use, the discom must install an additional check meter within 5 days of your complaint. The check meter stays for at least three months. Source
• No test fee when you report. The discom must not charge a test fee at the time you report a faulty meter. Source
• Copy of the test report. You get a signed copy of the meter test report. You can choose not to attend the test. Source
• Bill correction after a test. If the test shows wrong readings, the discom adjusts the excess or short amount in your next bills. Source
• Independent lab if you disagree. If you dispute the test result, a third-party lab from the State Commission's approved list tests the meter. If its result matches the discom's test, you pay; if not, the discom pays. Source
• No delay for want of a meter. The discom must not delay restoring your supply because it has no meter in stock. Source
• Bill before the due date. The discom must give you the bill at least ten days before the due date. Source
• Reconnection after payment. After you pay the dues, the discom must reconnect your supply within six working hours. Source
• Pay under protest to keep supply. During a bill dispute, the discom must not cut your supply if you pay under protest. Pay the amount claimed or the average monthly charge of the last six months, whichever is less. Source
• Two-year limit on old dues. Section 56(2) sets a two-year limit on the recovery of sums due from a consumer under that section. Source
• 24x7 call centre. Each discom must run a centralised 24x7 toll-free call centre for services such as new connection, disconnection and reconnection. Source
• Forum decides in 30 days. The Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) normally decides a grievance within 30 days. It must not take more than 45 days. Source
• Ombudsman after the forum. If the forum does not solve your grievance in time, or you disagree with its order, you can go to the Electricity Ombudsman. Source
• Other legal rights stay. The forum and Ombudsman route does not take away other rights you have under the law. Source
• Compensation set by the State Commission. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission sets the service standards and the compensation amounts. The discom pays compensation within 90 days of the decision. Source
• Automatic compensation. For standards that the discom can monitor remotely, you get compensation automatically. The discom pays by an adjustment in your current or next bills. Source

What we could not confirm

• Rule 5(13) sets time limits to replace defective, burnt or stolen meters. Our reading tool gave 24 hours in urban areas and 72 hours in rural areas; check the rule text.
• Rule 6 has limits on provisional bills and a rebate for late bills. We read these through a summary tool, so we do not give the figures.
• The 2020 Rules and amendments do not name the 1912 number. Some discoms use it; see your state page.
• News reports say the Ministry of Power issued a draft amendment in 2026 on abnormal bills and the forum structure. We found no final notification.

Sources

• Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 (G.S.R. 818(E), 31 Dec 2020)
• Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2024 (G.S.R. 125(E), 22 Feb 2024), rule 5(7)
• Electricity Act, 2003 (as amended), CERC copy, sections 42, 56, 57

ebbillcalc is not part of any discom or regulator. The regulations and your discom have the final word.