Business / Companies
ZESA Holdings appeals against decision to write off all pre-2009 bills
17 Nov 2011 at 21:28hrs | Views
On Thursday ZESA Holdings appealed against a recent decision by the Competition and Tariff Commission that compelled the power utility to write off all pre-2009 bills.
The CTC ordered Zesa to justify some load-shedding programmes and to bill their clients on actual meter readings.
Through its lawyers, Muza and Nyapadi, Zesa filed the notice of appeal after Administrative Court senior president Herbert Mande-ya granted the power utility permission to appeal out of time.
The stipulated period within which such appeals should be noted had lapsed.
The commission issued an order against Ze-sa in August, but the firm took almost three months to challenge the decision.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who was instru-cted by Mr Vote Muza and Nyapadi, convinced the court that the delay was not willful before president Mandeya gave the company the green light to contest.
Advocate David Ochieng was instructed by Dube Manikai and Hwacha to represent the commission.
The commission received complaints agai-nst Zesa, including unfair load-shedding in different areas, excessive tariffs, charging through the use of estimates and arbitrary disconnec-tion of supplies.
An investigation into the allegations was conducted resulting in an order being issued in August. The commission ruled that February 2009 should be used as the starting point for billing and all bills before that period should be written off.
In a notice of appeal filed yesterday at the Administrative Court, Zesa argues that the order was defective in the sense that it was passed on a holding company that had nothing to do with power generation, supply and distribution.
"The commission erred at law in making an award against the appellant in a matter in which the proper party ought to have been a company in which appellant holds shares, being the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company.
"A fortiori it erred in failing to appreciate and give effect to the long established principle of separate legal personality," the notice read.
According to the court papers, the erroneous order seeks to get Zesa to reduce tariffs, a task that is solely for the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulating Commission.
Zesa Holdings, according to the papers, was simply responsible for holding shares on behalf of its subsidiaries and to direct policy and that distribution and supply of power falls under the responsibility of ZETDC.
It was stated that the commission erred in making an order that is outside its jurisdictional competence.
The CTC ordered Zesa to justify some load-shedding programmes and to bill their clients on actual meter readings.
Through its lawyers, Muza and Nyapadi, Zesa filed the notice of appeal after Administrative Court senior president Herbert Mande-ya granted the power utility permission to appeal out of time.
The stipulated period within which such appeals should be noted had lapsed.
The commission issued an order against Ze-sa in August, but the firm took almost three months to challenge the decision.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who was instru-cted by Mr Vote Muza and Nyapadi, convinced the court that the delay was not willful before president Mandeya gave the company the green light to contest.
Advocate David Ochieng was instructed by Dube Manikai and Hwacha to represent the commission.
The commission received complaints agai-nst Zesa, including unfair load-shedding in different areas, excessive tariffs, charging through the use of estimates and arbitrary disconnec-tion of supplies.
An investigation into the allegations was conducted resulting in an order being issued in August. The commission ruled that February 2009 should be used as the starting point for billing and all bills before that period should be written off.
In a notice of appeal filed yesterday at the Administrative Court, Zesa argues that the order was defective in the sense that it was passed on a holding company that had nothing to do with power generation, supply and distribution.
"The commission erred at law in making an award against the appellant in a matter in which the proper party ought to have been a company in which appellant holds shares, being the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company.
"A fortiori it erred in failing to appreciate and give effect to the long established principle of separate legal personality," the notice read.
According to the court papers, the erroneous order seeks to get Zesa to reduce tariffs, a task that is solely for the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulating Commission.
Zesa Holdings, according to the papers, was simply responsible for holding shares on behalf of its subsidiaries and to direct policy and that distribution and supply of power falls under the responsibility of ZETDC.
It was stated that the commission erred in making an order that is outside its jurisdictional competence.
Source - TH
