ELECTRICITY BILL DUES IN PUNJAB AND HARYANA Current Position, Legal Framework, and Whether Non-Domestic Dues Can Be Attached to a Domestic Connection

1. Introduction

Unpaid electricity bills are one of the most persistent problems for power distribution companies in northern India. For consumers, they raise a different set of worries: disconnection of supply, inflated or estimated bills, old arrears surfacing years later, and demands for dues that belong to a previous owner, a former tenant, or even a different connection held by the same person.

This article covers four things. First, the recent position on electricity dues in Punjab (Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, PSPCL) and Haryana (Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, UHBVN, and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, DHBVN). Second, the regulations and court rulings that govern recovery of dues. Third, the specific question that many shopkeepers, landlords, home-owners and small businesses ask: can the dues of a non-domestic (commercial) connection be attached to, or recovered through, a domestic connection? Fourth, the safeguards and remedies available to consumers.

A note on terminology. Punjab uses "DS" (Domestic Supply) and "NRS" (Non-Residential Supply) for the domestic and commercial categories. Haryana uses "Domestic" and "NDS" (Non-Domestic Supply). In this article "non-domestic" covers both NRS and NDS.

2. Executive summary

•      Punjab (latest development): On 28 September 2026, PSPCL ordered disconnections of Domestic Supply consumers for default payments to be held in abeyance, because meter-reader strikes and migration to a new billing system produced estimated and inflated bills. The relief is for domestic consumers only.

•      Punjab (recovery drive): A report from around early September 2026 described a North Zone drive with dues of Rs 332 crore and over 50,000 consumers facing disconnection. Government departments owed PSPCL Rs 2,324 crore as of January 2025.

•      Haryana: The Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2025 (12 May to 11 November 2025) has closed. I could not confirm a successor scheme as of today. Haryana's discoms have repeatedly reported low take-up of waiver schemes and large amounts locked in litigation.

•      General law: Electricity dues are not automatically a charge on the property. A new owner or occupier can be made to pay a previous consumer's dues only where a statutory rule or condition of supply says so. Both states' Supply Codes do say so, and the Supreme Court (K.C. Ninan, 2023) and the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Navneet Kumar, 2024) have supported such recovery.

•      The central question: Non-domestic dues are not automatically transferable to a domestic connection. The answer turns on (a) whether the premises are the same, (b) whether the same legal person is liable, and (c) whether the utility is refusing a new connection, blocking a transfer, or disconnecting an existing connection. Utilities can clearly hold up new connections and name transfers over undisputed dues. Disconnecting a running domestic connection at one premises for non-domestic dues at another premises is much more contestable, and I found no judgment that squarely decides it.

•      Safeguards: At least 15 clear days' written notice before disconnection; a right to keep supply by depositing under protest; a two-year bar on disconnection for old dues; grievance forums (CGRF and Ombudsman); and the High Court's writ jurisdiction.

3. The legal framework

3.1 The Electricity Act, 2003

The following provisions matter most for dues and disconnection.

•      Section 2(15), "consumer": Includes any person supplied with electricity for own use by a licensee, and any person whose premises are connected to the licensee's works. The Punjab Supply Code 2024 repeats this definition. Note that the definition is about a person and also about premises. This dual character is at the heart of the question in Part 6.

•      Section 42(5) to (8): Every distribution licensee must have a Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF), and the State Commission appoints an Ombudsman for appeals.

•      Section 43: The duty of a licensee to supply electricity on application by the owner or occupier of any premises. The duty is linked to the premises.

•      Section 47: Power to require reasonable security for payment of dues.

•      Section 50: The State Commission frames the Electricity Supply Code, which sets procedure for connection, disconnection, reconnection and billing.

•      Section 56: Disconnection for non-payment, discussed below.

•      Sections 126 and 127: Assessment for unauthorised use of electricity, and appeals against assessment.

•      Section 135: Theft of electricity.

3.2 Section 56 in detail

Section 56 is the main weapon utilities have against defaulters, and the main shield consumers have against arbitrary disconnection. It has four working parts.

1.       Power to disconnect. If a person neglects to pay a charge for electricity, or any other sum due to the licensee for supply, the licensee may disconnect supply after giving not less than fifteen clear days' written notice, and without prejudice to its right to sue for the amount.

2.       Protection by deposit under protest. Supply is not to be cut off if the person deposits, under protest, either the amount claimed or the average of the charges paid over the preceding six months, whichever is less, pending disposal of the dispute.

3.       Two-year limit. Under Section 56(2), no sum due from a consumer is recoverable after two years from the date it first became due, unless the sum has been continuously shown as recoverable arrears of charges for electricity supplied. Courts read this as a bar on disconnection, not as extinguishing the debt.

4.       Recovery is separate from disconnection. The licensee's right to sue or to use other lawful recovery routes is independent of its power to disconnect.

3.3 The Supply Codes and utility manuals

Punjab. The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) notified the Electricity Supply Code, Standards of Performance and Related Matters Regulations, 2024 on 23 October 2024 in the Punjab Government Gazette. It came into force on 14 November 2024 and replaced the 2014 Code and its amendments. PSPCL's Electricity Supply Instructions Manual (ESIM) and its circulars carry the detailed working instructions. The 2018 edition of the ESIM is the one I could read; PSPCL has since issued circulars adapting to the 2024 Code, so ESIM clause numbers should be checked against the latest version.

Haryana. The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) Electricity Supply Code Regulations, 2014 (Regulation HERC/29/2014), as amended, together with the "Sales Circulars" and Sales Manual of UHBVN and DHBVN. Haryana's Nigams also have a statutory recovery route in the Haryana Electrical Undertakings (Due Recovery) Act, 1970, to which their circulars refer.

3.4 The key court rulings

The general rule: dues do not run with the property

In Isha Marbles v. Bihar State Electricity Board (1995) the Supreme Court held that a purchaser of property is not automatically liable for the previous owner's electricity dues. The Court later clarified, in a line of cases including a Haryana case involving Hanuman Rice Mills (2010), that this holds unless statutory rules or conditions of supply authorise the utility to demand the previous dues as a condition for a fresh connection or reconnection. Where such a rule exists, it binds the purchaser.

K.C. Ninan v. Kerala State Electricity Board (19 May 2023)

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court settled several points that now shape disputes in both states:

•      The two-year limit in Section 56(2) restricts only the remedy of disconnection. The licensee may still recover arrears through a civil suit or through a statutory condition of supply.

•      A condition of supply that requires a new owner or occupier to clear a previous consumer's arrears has statutory character and is a valid exercise of the State Commission's power to frame the Supply Code.

•      The universal service obligation under Section 43 is linked to the premises. Where the premises are the same, a new application is treated as part of the same chain; where the premises differ, even for the same consumer, it is a fresh connection and not a reconnection.

Rahamatullah Khan (2020) and the recent "first due" ruling

In Assistant Engineer (D1), Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. v. Rahamatullah Khan (2020) the Supreme Court held that a licensee cannot disconnect supply for a sum that first became due more than two years earlier, but may use other legal remedies to recover it. In a recent decision reported about a month ago, the Court also held that electricity charges become "first due" only when the bill is issued, even though liability arises on consumption. It therefore refused to allow a discom to enforce a demand for about Rs 57.74 lakh raised nine years late.

Punjab and Haryana High Court

•      Navneet Kumar v. State of Haryana (5 November 2024): relying on K.C. Ninan, the Court upheld the principle that the Supply Code can require a new owner or occupier to clear a previous consumer's arrears. It also noted that when premises differ, even for the same consumer, the application is a fresh connection.

•      Sukhwinder Singh v. PSPCL (5 January 2023): the Court accepted that PSPCL can insist on payment of outstanding dues against the premises before releasing a connection to a transferee.

•      B.P.S. Ispat Udyog v. PSPCL (21 August 2024): a connection released for one premises cannot be used for another premises, even where both belong to the same person. This case concerned unauthorised use, but it shows how strictly the "premises" concept is applied.

•      Om Parkash v. Balkar Singh: in a landlord-tenant dispute the Court described electricity as a basic necessity forming part of the right to life under Article 21. This is not a dues case, but it reflects the Court's reluctance to endorse disconnection as a casual tool.

PSEB v. Ashwani Kumar (2010)

The Supreme Court held that a consumer cannot use several meters in what is really one premises to avoid higher tariffs or to defeat the licensee's lawful dues. This matters for mixed-use buildings.

4. Punjab: the present position

4.1 Suspension of disconnections for domestic consumers

On 28 September 2026 an official memo from PSPCL's Director (Distribution) ordered that disconnection of Domestic Supply consumers for payment default be kept in abeyance with immediate effect. The memo records that, because of a recent strike by meter readers and the ongoing migration from SAP and Non-SAP systems to an Oracle-based SBS system, many domestic consumers had been billed on an average or assumed basis, leading to incorrect or inflated bills and many complaints at field offices. PSPCL acknowledged that the arrears in those cases arose from erroneous billing and not actual consumption.

Three points are worth noting. First, this is a temporary relief and not a waiver of the amounts. Second, it covers domestic (DS) consumers only, so a non-domestic defaulter gets no protection from it. Third, it does not stop the utility from recomputing and issuing corrected bills, so consumers with suspiciously high bills should seek a recomputation in writing.

4.2 Recovery drive and scale of dues

A Tribune report from around early September 2026 described an intensified recovery and disconnection drive in PSPCL's North Zone. Dues stood at Rs 332 crore, and 50,759 consumers faced disconnection. Jalandhar accounted for nearly two-thirds of the zone's outstanding dues, with the Model Town division alone at over Rs 105 crore. A PSPCL official explained that consumers whose bills remain unpaid beyond 60 days are classed as defaulters, are served a notice, and are given a 10-day window before disconnection.

Two cautions on that description. The statutory notice period in Section 56 is at least fifteen clear days in writing. A consumer who received a shorter or oral notice should check whether the proper notice was served. And the 60-day classification is an internal operating rule; it does not by itself alter the statutory notice requirement.

4.3 Government department dues

Government departments are a large part of the problem. As of 31 January 2025 they owed PSPCL Rs 2,324 crore, and four departments accounted for over Rs 2,100 crore of it. A 2022 report listed Water Supply and Sanitation (Rs 1,124 crore), Local Bodies (Rs 881 crore), Rural Development and Panchayats (Rs 286 crore) and Health (Rs 125 crore) among the largest debtors. I did not find a more recent consolidated figure.

4.4 Waivers and one-time settlements: a timeline

Year	Scheme	What it did	Notes
2021	OTS	PSPCL one-time settlement (reported April 2021).	Earlier OTS round.
2022	Domestic arrears waiver	Waiver of pending arrears up to 31 Dec 2021 that remained unpaid at 30 June 2022, for domestic consumers using electricity for residential purposes. State government to compensate PSPCL.	Excluded non-domestic consumers, and excluded government hospitals, dispensaries and places of worship that fall under the domestic tariff.
2022-23	OTS petition	PSPCL sought OTS to recover Rs 4,775 crore due up to September 2022, including Rs 2,534 crore from government departments.	PSERC approved an OTS for all categories except agriculture, for three months in 2023.
2026	None confirmed	I could not confirm an OTS or waiver open in Punjab as of 11 October 2026.	Check PSPCL's website and your sub-division.

 

4.5 What the Punjab rules say about dues

Supply Code 2024: purchase of existing property (Regulation 6(8))

Where an applicant has bought, or intends to buy, an existing property whose supply has been disconnected, it is the applicant's duty to verify that the previous owner has cleared all dues and obtained a no-dues certificate. Without that certificate, the connection to the premises is released only after clearance of all outstanding dues against the previous consumer of the premises.

Supply Code 2024: sub-divided property (Regulation 6(9))

Where a property has been lawfully sub-divided, a new connection to any portion is given only after the outstanding dues attributed to the undivided premises have been paid, either by the consumer in whose name the connection existed before division or by the applicant for the new connection.

"Premises" and "consumer" under the 2024 Code

The Code defines premises as land, a building or a structure, or a part or combination of them, that is appropriately partitioned electrically from neighbouring premises and has its own meter or metering arrangement. The "consumer" definition tracks the Act. Together these definitions are the textual basis for the argument that each connection belongs to a particular premises (see Part 6).

Undertakings at the time of applying

PSPCL's ESIM requires an applicant, or the applicant's "associates", seeking a new connection or load extension to give an undertaking that no theft or unauthorised-use case, and no recovery case for a defaulting amount, is pending against them. If undisputed dues exist, and no dispute is pending before an Ombudsman, court or appellate authority, the ESIM says the application is registered only after 100 per cent of the outstanding dues are recovered.

The Application and Agreement (A&A) form goes further. It asks the applicant to state, separately, whether there are electricity dues (a) in the applicant's name anywhere in PSPCL's area of supply, (b) on the premises for which the connection is sought, and (c) against any firm or company with which the applicant is associated as an owner, partner, director or managing director. In effect, Punjab's paperwork already reaches dues on other connections in the same person's name and dues of associated entities.

Change of name and use of a connection in an old occupant's name

Under the ESIM, where a person has taken possession of premises and kept using the connection in the old occupant's name, the change of name is to be effected only after that person pays the old outstanding dues. Where the old consumer does not clear arrears, they are payable by the new consumer under the undertaking the new consumer has given.

Final bill and no-dues certificate

Under the 2014 Code as amended in 2022 (Regulation 30.10), on a consumer's request to vacate, the utility arranges a special reading, delivers a final bill including all arrears within 7 days of the reading, and issues a no-dues certificate within 7 working days of receiving final payment. I did not verify whether the 2024 Code carries the identical timeline, so check the current text.

Enforcement instructions

PSPCL has previously reminded field offices, citing Regulation 32 of the 2014 Code and Instruction 91 of the ESIM, that connections of defaulters must be disconnected within the prescribed time frames, and has made the concerned officers directly responsible. This explains why periodic drives occur.

5. Haryana: the present position

5.1 Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2025 (closed)

The Haryana government launched the Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2025, announced by Energy Minister Anil Vij. DHBVN implemented it from 12 May to 11 November 2025, and it covered all types of consumers (domestic, agricultural, commercial and industrial, and those already disconnected) with dues unpaid up to 31 August 2024. The main terms reported were:

•      Domestic and agricultural consumers: a 10 per cent discount on the principal and a full surcharge waiver on lump-sum payment. Those paying in eight monthly or four bimonthly instalments also got a 100 per cent surcharge waiver.

•      Industrial and other consumers: 50 per cent of the surcharge waived on paying the full principal and half the surcharge.

•      Government buildings, municipal bodies, panchayats and state PSUs: a full surcharge waiver on lump-sum payment.

•      Reconnection: available on paying the full amount or the first instalment, where the disconnection was not more than six months old (two years for agricultural connections).

That scheme has ended. I could not confirm a successor, so anyone with old dues should ask the sub-division whether another window has opened.

5.2 Earlier Haryana schemes

Year	Utility	Terms	Response / remarks
2021	UHBVN	Surcharge waiver on paying the principal in lump sum, or 25% upfront with the balance in six instalments; for domestic, agricultural, HT and LT industrial and non-domestic consumers, including those disconnected up to 30 June. Valid till 30 November.	Consumers with cases pending in court could not use it unless they withdrew the cases.
2022	DHBVN	Surcharge waiver scheme running to 31 December 2022, with disconnection drives announced after 1 January 2023.	Reported to be a lukewarm response in Faridabad: only 730 defaulters cleared about Rs 3.16 crore against 1.61 lakh consumers owing about Rs 605 crore.
2024	State / UHBVN	Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2024 for domestic consumers (urban and rural) with bills due till 31 Dec 2023: surcharge frozen, pay the principal in lump sum or instalments over three months; extra 5% discount on lump sum.	Frozen surcharge is waived in proportion to regular payment of instalments and the next three bills; if payments lapse, the surcharge returns.
2025	State / DHBVN	Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2025 (see 5.1).	Closed on 11 November 2025.

 

5.3 Scale of dues

Recent consolidated Haryana figures were hard to find, so the following are indicative only.

•      A Tribune report on the 2024-25 year for DHBVN's Faridabad circle described about 1.6 lakh consumers with dues. Around 54,662 had been disconnected and owed roughly Rs 325 crore, with domestic dues alone above Rs 468 crore. Officials blamed pending litigation, untraced connections and changes of address.

•      Another Tribune report said that Faridabad circle's outstanding bills were around Rs 460 crore against about 1.28 lakh consumers, and that waiver schemes over the preceding years had drawn a poor response. A disconnection drive was planned for defaulters with dues above Rs 10,000 after the Assembly elections.

•      A February 2021 report put total default across Haryana's two discoms at over Rs 6,800 crore, with government departments owing over Rs 504 crore in DHBVN alone, led by the Public Health department.

The consistent themes are litigation holding up recovery, government department arrears, and low response to waiver schemes.

5.4 What the Haryana rules say about dues

New connection: previous owner's dues (HERC Supply Code 2014, Regulation 4.3.1 and 4.4)

An applicant for a new connection must produce a no-dues certificate, or an undertaking to pay the outstanding dues of the previous owner. Where the previous owner has dues, the applicant must clear them before a new connection is released. The 2014 Code also provides that temporary connections are not to be given while dues stand against the applicant or against the premises (Regulation 4.5.11).

Change of name (Regulation 4.7.2, as amended on 17 November 2014)

A request for transfer of a connection is not accepted unless all dues recoverable against that connection are settled. Where the change follows a sale or lease of property, Regulation 4.3.1 applies, and it is the applicant's liability to pay arrears of the previous owner, whether existing or detected later through audit.

Transfer of balance dues to another connection of the same consumer

The Sales Circulars (UHBVN U-39/2013 and DHBVN D-45/2013), which deal with recovery of arrears from consumers whose meters have been removed, direct field staff to record other connections running in the name of the same consumer, or in the same premises, and say the balance dues may be transferred to any other connection held in the same consumer's name. The circulars are from 2013, before the 2014 Code, so whether they remain operative in that form needs to be confirmed. They show, however, that Haryana's Nigams have long treated a defaulter's other connections as a recovery route.

The CREDAI-Haryana case (HERC/PRO-68 of 2020)

In 2021 a real-estate developers' body challenged a Nigam circular that denied temporary connections to a developer, or its subsidiary, sister concern or partnership firm, against whom dues were outstanding. DHBVN's reply, recorded in the Commission's order, said the rule was consistent with Regulation 4.5.11 and that a similar check is applied to all categories of connection, including domestic and non-domestic, to make sure the same person or company has no outstanding dues on another connection at another location. The Nigam argued that without such a rule, a defaulter could form a new company with the same directors and escape. The petitioner argued that separate companies and separate projects should not be linked. The portion of the order I could read recorded the pleadings and not the Commission's final holding, so I cannot tell you how the Commission ruled. This is nonetheless a clear statement of the Nigam's own position.

6. Can non-domestic dues be attached to a domestic connection?

6.1 Why the question arises

The question usually arises in one of four situations: a shopkeeper who also holds a domestic connection at home; a landlord whose tenant ran a commercial connection and left without paying; a buyer of a property with a commercial connection history who wants a domestic connection; and a family business whose firm has defaulted while family members hold domestic connections. In each, the utility may say, "clear the commercial dues first." The legal answer is different in each.

6.2 Three building blocks: person, connection, premises

•      Person. The Act speaks of "any person" who neglects to pay charges due from them. A company, firm or individual is a separate person; "associates" is a utility concept, not a settled legal one.

•      Connection. Each connection is created by its own application and agreement, has its own meter, tariff category, security deposit and account number.

•      Premises. The duty to supply under Section 43 attaches to premises, and the Codes define premises by electrical partitioning and metering. The Supreme Court in K.C. Ninan treated the premises link as central.

A utility will generally rely on the person link ("dues are owed by you, wherever the connection is") and on conditions of supply that it says are statutory. A consumer will rely on the connection and premises link ("this domestic connection, at this premises, has no dues of its own").

6.3 Scenario-by-scenario analysis

Scenario	Utility's likely position	Basis	Strength of consumer's objection
A. Same premises, same person (for example shop and home in one building)	Dues attach to the premises. New connection or extension is held until cleared. Mixed use may be treated as unauthorised use.	Punjab: Reg 6(8)/(9) and ESIM undertakings. Haryana: Reg 4.3.1, 4.5.11. Ashwani Kumar (SC) on multiple meters in one premises.	Weak where dues are admitted and undisputed. Stronger where the premises are genuinely partitioned and separately metered, or the dues are disputed or time-barred.
B. Same person, different premises; new domestic connection applied for	Application is held until undisputed dues in the applicant's name are cleared.	Punjab: A&A form and ESIM undertaking (dues in applicant's name anywhere in PSPCL area). Haryana: Nigam's stated practice of checking other connections; 2013 circulars.	Moderate to weak where dues are undisputed and the undertaking was signed. Stronger where the dues are disputed, pending before a forum, or relate to a different legal person.
C. Same person, different premises; existing domestic connection is running	Disconnect the domestic connection, or transfer the balance onto it, until the non-domestic dues are cleared.	Section 56 refers to a person; Haryana circulars on transferring balances; undertakings in A&A forms.	Moderate to strong. Section 43 duty is premises-linked; separate agreement; notice and deposit-under-protest safeguards; limitation. No authority found that squarely allows it.
D. Previous occupant's non-domestic dues; new owner or occupier seeks a domestic connection at the same premises	New connection only after the previous consumer's dues are cleared.	Punjab Reg 6(8)/(9); Haryana Reg 4.3.1; K.C. Ninan; Navneet Kumar; Sukhwinder Singh.	Weak. Practical route is to pay (under protest if disputed) and recover from the previous occupant. Challenge only on quantification or if the amount was never properly billed.
E. Firm or company dues; family member seeks a domestic connection	Dues of a firm or company in which the applicant is an owner, partner or director must be declared and cleared.	Punjab A&A form clause on associated firms; Nigam's "sister concern" argument in Haryana.	Uncertain. Separate legal personality is a real defence, but common control and evidence of evasion weigh against it.
F. Waiver scheme for domestic arrears	Waiver applies only to the category it names.	Punjab 2022 waiver excluded non-domestic. Haryana schemes set different benefits by category.	Weak if the scheme text excludes your category. Read the notification carefully.

 

6.4 The utility's best arguments

•      Section 56(1) speaks of a person who neglects to pay, not of a particular connection.

•      The definition of "consumer" in the Act and in the Codes is person-based.

•      The A&A form is a contract. Where the applicant has signed an undertaking about dues in their name elsewhere, that undertaking is binding and is backed by a Code-based condition of supply.

•      Courts have accepted that conditions of supply in the Code can require clearing of earlier dues, and that such recovery is not limited by Section 56(2).

•      Without such rules, a defaulter could simply open another connection in a family member's or a related entity's name.

6.5 The consumer's best arguments

•      The duty to supply under Section 43 is premises-based. A domestic home with no dues of its own should not be cut off for a shop's dues elsewhere.

•      The Code definitions of premises and connection treat each metered premises separately, and the Supreme Court has said a different premises means a fresh connection.

•      Existing connections have their own agreement and security deposit. Attaching a different connection's dues to them is not provided for in the text of the Codes I have read.

•      Section 56 safeguards apply regardless: written notice of at least 15 clear days; supply cannot be cut where the disputed amount is deposited under the proviso; and disconnection for sums first due more than two years earlier is barred.

•      Disconnection of a home supply raises proportionality concerns, given how courts describe electricity as a basic necessity.

•      Where the dues are disputed or sub judice, the ESIM itself exempts the applicant from the "100 per cent recovery first" condition.

6.6 What the case law does and does not say

The authorities I could find establish that (a) utilities may require previous dues to be cleared before releasing a new connection to the same premises where the Code says so; (b) the two-year limit bars disconnection but not recovery; and (c) when the premises differ, a connection is new. None of them decides whether a utility may disconnect an existing domestic connection for the non-domestic dues of the same person at a different premises. A Delhi Electricity Ombudsman order and a few other reported matters show that utilities do pursue dues attached to a separate "pending dues" connection, but those are fact-specific and from another jurisdiction. I would treat this as an open question that will be decided on the facts of each case.

Bottom line on the central question

1. A utility can hold up a new connection or a name transfer over undisputed dues, and both states' rules support that.

2. A utility can require a new owner or occupier of the same premises to clear the previous consumer's dues.

3. A utility's power to disconnect or burden an existing domestic connection with non-domestic dues of a different premises is not clearly supported by the Code text I read, and is open to challenge, especially where the dues are disputed, time-barred, or belong to a different legal person.

4. A waiver for domestic arrears does not automatically wipe non-domestic dues.

7. How a disconnection for dues should work, and the safeguards

1.       Bill and due date. The bill must state the amount, the due date and any arrears. Under Section 56(2), arrears should be continuously shown in the bills for the utility to preserve its right to disconnect for older sums.

2.       Default. In Punjab, an official describes a default as a bill unpaid beyond 60 days. Surcharge on late payment continues to run.

3.       Notice. The utility must give at least 15 clear days' written notice under Section 56(1). Check whether you received a written notice, its date, and whether it identifies the specific connection and the amount.

4.       Your options during the notice period. Pay; pay under protest; apply for instalments or an OTS if available; or file a complaint with the CGRF and ask for interim protection.

5.       Disconnection. If you have deposited the disputed amount (or the average-based amount, whichever is less) under protest, the proviso to Section 56(1) prevents disconnection while the dispute is pending.

6.       Reconnection. Requires payment of dues and reconnection charges. Disconnected connections left for long periods may be treated as new connections, with different rules for agricultural and other categories.

7.1 Billing errors

Where the arrears arise from estimated, average-based or wrong bills, as PSPCL itself accepted in its September 2026 memo for domestic consumers, ask in writing for (a) the meter reading history, (b) the basis of the estimate, and (c) a recomputed bill. Pay the undisputed portion, and use the deposit-under-protest route for the rest.

7.2 Limitation

Check when the sum first became due. If it is more than two years old and was not continuously shown as arrears, the utility cannot disconnect for it. It may still sue or use other recovery methods, so a time-bar defence protects your supply but does not cancel the debt. The Supreme Court's recent ruling that a charge is "first due" only when billed helps consumers whose old charges were never billed.

8. Remedies and forums

•      Complaint to the utility. Start with a written complaint to the sub-divisional officer, and keep proof of submission.

•      Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF). Each utility has one under Section 42(5). It can hear disputes about billing, arrears and disconnection.

•      Ombudsman. An appeal against a CGRF order lies to the Electricity Ombudsman appointed by PSERC or HERC under Section 42(6). Punjab's Forum and Ombudsman Regulations 2016 govern Punjab proceedings.

•      Section 126 assessments. Where the dues arise from an assessment for unauthorised use, the appeal is under Section 127, which requires depositing a portion of the assessed amount (generally half). Check the exact requirement before filing.

•      High Court. A writ petition under Article 226 is available for illegal disconnection or an arbitrary demand, as the cases above show. Courts often grant interim restoration subject to payment of undisputed or reasonable sums.

•      Civil suit. Either side may sue; utilities use this to recover time-barred sums that they cannot enforce by disconnection.

•      Settlement schemes. If an OTS or surcharge waiver is open, it can reduce what you pay, but schemes often require withdrawing pending cases (as UHBVN's 2021 scheme did).

9. Practical guidance for different people

9.1 Home-owners and flat buyers

•      Before buying, get a no-dues certificate for the premises, and insist on it in the sale documents.

•      Check that every earlier connection at the premises, including any commercial or tenant connection, has been closed with dues cleared.

•      If you pay a previous owner's dues to get your connection, pay with a written record and keep the right to recover the amount from the seller.

9.2 Shopkeepers and small businesses

•      Keep commercial dues current. An unpaid non-domestic account can block a new domestic connection or extension in your name, and may cause trouble for firms you are associated with.

•      If you hold both a shop and a home connection, do not assume the home connection is safe from your shop's dues; the legal position is contestable, but you do not want to test it.

•      Do not run a shop from a domestic connection. It risks Section 126 proceedings and the tariff difference.

9.3 Landlords

•      When a commercial tenant leaves, get a final reading and a no-dues certificate before closing the connection.

•      Hold a sufficient security deposit from the tenant. The tenant's unpaid dues can come back to the premises, and so to you.

9.4 Tenants

•      Your connection in your own name makes you liable for its dues. Do not leave without a final bill and no-dues certificate.

•      If the landlord cuts your supply during a dispute, courts have treated electricity as a basic necessity and granted interim restoration.

9.5 Everyone

•      Read the "arrears" line on every bill. Raise a written objection as soon as an unexplained arrear appears.

•      Do not ignore notices. Respond in writing, and attach evidence.

•      Ask whether an OTS or surcharge waiver is open. Schemes often lapse quickly.

10. Punjab and Haryana at a glance

Aspect	Punjab (PSPCL)	Haryana (UHBVN / DHBVN)
Regulator and Code	PSERC. Supply Code 2024 (in force 14 Nov 2024), replacing the 2014 Code.	HERC. Electricity Supply Code Regulations 2014, as amended.
Latest development found	28 Sep 2026: disconnections of DS consumers for default put in abeyance because of billing errors.	Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2025 closed 11 Nov 2025. No successor confirmed.
Scale of dues (latest figures found)	North Zone Rs 332 crore with 50,759 facing disconnection (about Sept 2026). Government departments Rs 2,324 crore (Jan 2025).	Faridabad circle alone about Rs 460 crore (2024). State-wide about Rs 6,800 crore reported in Feb 2021 (old).
Previous owner's dues for a new connection	Reg 6(8), 6(9): no-dues certificate or clear previous dues.	Reg 4.3.1, 4.4: no-dues certificate or undertaking and payment of previous owner's dues.
Dues on other connections of the same applicant	A&A form asks about dues in applicant's name anywhere in PSPCL area; ESIM holds undisputed cases until 100% recovered.	Nigam says it checks other locations; 2013 circulars allow transfer of balance to another connection of the same consumer.
Associated firms	A&A form asks about dues against firms or companies where applicant is owner, partner or director; ESIM mentions "associates".	Nigam argued a "sister concern" rule in 2021; Commission's final ruling not verified.
Domestic vs non-domestic waivers	2022 waiver for residential domestic arrears excluded non-domestic.	2025 scheme covered all categories with different benefits for domestic, agricultural, industrial and government.
Courts	Sukhwinder Singh (2023), B.P.S. Ispat (2024).	Navneet Kumar (2024).
Grievance route	CGRF, then Ombudsman (PSERC).	CGRF, then Ombudsman (HERC).

 

11. Limits of this article

•      I could read the Punjab Supply Code 2024 only in part (the early chapters including Regulation 6). I did not read its disconnection, billing or change-of-name chapters in full, so I have referred to the 2014 Code and the 2018 ESIM for those and flagged that they should be checked.

•      Some Haryana circulars are from 2013 and 2014. Utilities issue new circulars often, and I could not confirm which version is current.

•      Figures on dues come from press reports of different dates and are indicative.

•      I did not find a reported judgment squarely deciding whether non-domestic dues can be recovered by disconnecting a domestic connection at a different premises. If you face this, a lawyer should check for recent High Court orders.

•      This article does not cover agricultural connections or HT industrial consumers in detail.

12. Sources consulted

The article draws on the following publicly available material:

•      PSPCL suspends power disconnections for defaulting domestic consumers (ANI, 28 Sep 2026) - aninews.in; and The News Mill, Sep 2026.

•      PSPCL orders 50,759 disconnections as dues touch Rs 332 cr - The Tribune (Jalandhar), about Sep 2026.

•      Govt depts owe PSPCL Rs 2,324 crore - The Tribune.

•      Eyeing Rs 4,775 cr, PSPCL to offer OTS scheme for recovering dues - The Tribune.

•      Domestic power defaulters in Punjab to get waiver - The Tribune (August 2022).

•      PSERC (Electricity Supply Code, Standards of Performance and Related Matters) Regulations, 2024 - Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 24 Oct 2024.

•      PSPCL circular on salient changes in Supply Code 2024 - docs.pspcl.in.

•      PSPCL Electricity Supply Instructions Manual 2017/2018 and Application and Agreement forms - pspcl.in.

•      PSPCL FAQ on new connections and no-dues certificates - pspcl.in.

•      Haryana Surcharge Waiver Scheme 2025 - OneIndia and The Tribune (Sirsa).

•      UHBVN and DHBVN surcharge waiver reports (2021, 2022, 2024) - The Tribune.

•      DHBVN dues reports (Faridabad, Palwal) and "Default amount rises to Rs 6,800 crore in Haryana DISCOMS" - The Tribune.

•      HERC Electricity Supply Code Regulations 2014 and 1st Amendment (17 Nov 2014) - herc.gov.in; DHBVN/UHBVN Sales Circulars D-12/2014, D-48/2014, U-44/2014, U-39/2013, D-45/2013.

•      HERC order dated 1 April 2021 in Case No. HERC/PRO-68 of 2020 (CREDAI-Haryana v. DHBVN and others) - herc.gov.in.

•      K.C. Ninan v. Kerala State Electricity Board (Supreme Court, 19 May 2023) and SCC Online explainer.

•      Navneet Kumar v. State of Haryana (Punjab and Haryana High Court, 5 Nov 2024); Sukhwinder Singh v. PSPCL (5 Jan 2023); B.P.S. Ispat Udyog v. PSPCL (21 Aug 2024) - Indian Kanoon.

•      PSEB v. Ashwani Kumar (Supreme Court, 2010); Isha Marbles v. Bihar SEB (1995) and the Hanuman Rice Mills line of cases.

•      Bar and Bench report on Rahamatullah Khan (2020); LawChakra report on the recent "first due" ruling (about Sep 2026).

Conclusion

Electricity dues and recovery proceedings continue to be a major area of dispute between consumers and distribution licensees in Punjab and Haryana. The legal position shows that while electricity utilities have statutory powers to recover legitimate and undisputed dues, such powers are required to be exercised in accordance with the Electricity Act, 2003, applicable Supply Codes, prescribed procedures and principles of fairness.

The issue of whether non-domestic/commercial electricity dues can be recovered through a domestic connection depends upon the facts of each case, including the identity of the consumer, nature of premises, ownership or association between connections, applicable regulations and whether the dues are disputed or undisputed. While utilities may generally insist upon clearance of previous dues for grant of new connections, reconnection or change of name where the regulations permit, the question of disconnecting an existing domestic connection for dues relating to a separate commercial connection involves important legal considerations and may require examination by the appropriate forum.

Consumers should remain vigilant regarding electricity bills, arrears, notices and recovery demands. Any incorrect billing, old disputed dues or improper disconnection action should be challenged through the available statutory remedies, including the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum, Electricity Ombudsman and other legal remedies as applicable.

Disclaimer: This article is prepared only for general information and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice or create any advocate-client relationship. Electricity regulations, tariff orders, supply codes and judicial decisions are subject to amendments and interpretation by competent authorities. Readers should verify the latest applicable provisions and obtain professional advice before taking any action based on the information contained in this article.