Need a heater? Show paid electricity bill first

So, you want to buy a heating appliance to battle the brutal winter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district this year? Prove that you have paid your latest electricity bill first.
The district administration has imposed restrictions on the sale of electric appliances in Doda and asked shopkeepers not to sell heating gadgets to customers unless they produce the latest paid electricity bill.

The curbs on the sale of heaters, geysers, ACs and other electric appliances have been imposed under Section 144 – usually used to ban large gatherings – by the District Magistrate of Doda Vishesh Paul Mahajan.

The official has also flat-out banned the manufacture, possession and sale of water heaters and appliances which use nichrome wire heating coils – a cheap heating element.

With the onset of winter, when people in the region need more electricity to cope with freezing temperatures, there are frequent power cuts because of the gap between supply and demand across Jammu and Kashmir.

The administration has said the decision to regulate the sale of heating gadgets is aimed at preventing the unregulated use of power.

“The shops/stores carrying on business of electrical and electronic items shall not sell electrical appliances/items such as heaters, geysers, ACs, etc to customers who do not have a valid electricity connection or have not paid the last electricity bill,” reads the order issued by the District Magistrate of Doda.

Mr Mahajan has justified the control measures because there is a “huge gap in electricity connection and the consumption of electricity in District Doda and during winter there is a huge consumption of electricity, especially on account of the use of heating gadgets”.

The order said that unregulated use of high power-consuming electrical gadgets by people who do not have regular electricity connections or have not paid their outstanding electricity dues are inconveniencing law-abiding consumers.

The district magistrate says that based on these reasons, he is invoking Section 144 to restrict the sale of all heating appliances in the district.

As per the order, customers can purchase heating gadgets in the district only if they produce their last paid electricity. Shopkeepers and stores have been directed to maintain a record of these sales.

“The shops/stores who sell electrical appliances/items shall maintain a proper record of such sale and the record of electricity bills of such customers, which shall be regularly checked by the special teams,” read the order.

Besides monitoring by the commercial taxes department, the administration has also asked the Superintending Engineer of the power department to submit a weekly report on compliance by the shopkeepers.