DECISIONS DIFFER

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 44, 22 February 1938, Page 2

DECISIONS DIFFER

Can Power Board Add Penalty to Accounts? IMPORTANT POINT AT ISSUE From Our Own Correspondent. WAIPUKUBAU, Feb. 21. A decision vitally concerning a number of power boards throughout New Zealand, among them the Hawke’s Bay Power Board, was given last month when the Central Hawke’s Bay Power Board proceeded against a consumer for recovery of a sum, part of which represented a penalty on overdi e accounts. Mr J. Miller, S.M., gave a reserved decision at Waipukurau against the plaintiffs, holding that a power board had no right to impose a penalty. The interest which has since been taken throughout New Zealand in this case has resulted in the discovery of the fact that a decision exactly opposite to that of Mr Miller’s was given by Mr Justice Blair in the Supreme Court in November, 1931, when the Marlborough Electric Power Board wen a case on similar grounds. The reason why this case was overlooked in the recent action appeals to bo due to its not having appeared in the Law Reports. The discovery of this, earlier decision was reported to the Central Hawke’s Bay board at its monthly meeting, but as the board had since replaced the penalty system by discounts, it was considered of no advantage to lodge an appeal. Other power boards still operating on the penalty system were in possession of full facts of the case, so “let others blaze away,” suggested the chairman, Mr A. C. Russell.