JSEB, BSEB clash over jurisdiction

JSEB, BSEB clash over jurisdiction
ARINDAM SINHA

JAMSHEDPUR, MAR 25: Consumers and officials of the newly-formed Jharkhand State Electricity Board are at present caught in a tug-of-war between the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) and the new power entity. While consumers are not sure which board to pay their bills, officials of the JSEB are getting contradictory instructions. The JSEB came into being on March 17 with the Jharkhand energy minister, Lal Chand Mahato, announcing the appointment of Rajiv Ranjan as its first chairman-cum- member (admin).

While the JSEB chairman directed the area office falling under its jurisdiction to accept payments in JSEB’s favour, the BSEB member (finance) said, “So long as the government does not issue any order regarding creation of JSEB and exercise of its various functions, any such order by JSEB would not be legally enforceable.”