Section 7 in The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (Code of Practice for Quality of Service for City or Local Natural Gas Distribution Networks) Regulations, 2010
7. Billing.
(1)Every entity shall comply with the following code of practice with reference, to billing of domestic, commercial and industrial connections, namely :-(a)raise bills for domestic consumers with a billing cycle not longer than bimonthly.(b)notify area or district or circle wise billing and payment schedule and raise the bill for any billing cycle based on actual meter readings only;(c)upgrade billing procedures from time to time to accommodate advance lump-sum payments, online payments, smart cards or any other such schemes which would facilitate consumers payments and also provide details of such procedure on its website;(d)raise the bill at least fifteen days before the due date of the payment for domestic consumer and seven days before due date for commercial and industrial consumers;(e)issue the first bill only after energizing the connection;(f)issue a duplicate bill free of cost, if requested by the consumer;(g)resolve the issue within ten days in case it is established that the meter reading is not correctly reflected in the bill;(h)reflect adjustment of any excess payment made by the consumer in the subsequent bill failing which interest on the excess payment shall be payable by the entity at the prevailing Prime Lending Rate (PLR) notified by the State Bank of India;(i)the bill shall contain following details, namely:-(i)Consumer, details: Account Number, Name, Address, Phone number;(ii)Consumption details: consumer category, consumption details, date, of reading (old, new and next due on);(iii)Network Tariff, Charges for the last mile connectivity if applicable, taxes, levies, the sale price charged for supply of gas, penalty chargeable for payment after due date and total dues payable;(iv)in the case of CNG consumer, the entity shall also indicate the compression charges for CNG;(v)in the case of domestic consumers, the entity shall indicate additional parameters, namely, average consumption in the last six months, excess payments made by consumer, if any, other charges if any, collected by the entity from the consumer during the billing cycle etc;(vi)the invoice shall also indicate the entity related details like Name, Address and Telephone numbers of Bill Collection Centre, their timings, Incharge-Complaint Receiving Cell, Nodal Officer and Appellate Authority for dealing with consumer complaints;(j)if the meter is found to be defective and the supply is continuing the bill for such period shall be based on average consumption of the last six billing cycles;(k)the entity shall acknowledge immediately any complaints filed by the consumer on billing;(l)there shall be a provision for the consumer to lodge the complaint through email also;(m)the complaint shall be addressed within ten days and if additional time is required, then, it has to be conveyed to the consumer along with reasons thereof;(n)in case of consumer's request for final bill settlement the entity shall arrange a special meter reading for final bill within seven days and -(a)final bill shall be generated within seven days of the closure of gas supply;(b)once the final bill is raised, the entity shall not have any right to recover any charge other than those in the final bill.
