|
|
Forfeiture for deficient calorific value, &c.
|
9.—(1) If on any day for a period of two hours or upwards the calorific value of gas supplied by any undertakers, ascertained in accordance with the provisions of this Act, is more than five per cent. below the declared calorific value, the undertakers shall be liable on summary conviction to a forfeiture not exceeding five pounds for every complete one per cent. by which the calorific value is deficient in excess of such five per cent.:
|
|
| |
Provided that, where there is no continuous record of the calorific value of the gas supplied by an undertakers, if on any occasion of testing the calorific value at any testing-place is found to be more than five per cent. below the declared calorific value a second testing shall be made on the same day after an interval of not less than one hour and the mean of the two testings shall be deemed, for the purposes of this subsection, to be the calorific value of the gas supplied by the undertakers at that testing-place for a period of two hours ascertained as aforesaid.
|
|
| |
(2) If on any occasion the gas does not conform to the provisions of this Act or any order made thereunder as to purity or pressure, the undertakers shall be liable on summary conviction to a forfeiture not exceeding ten pounds.
|
|
| |
(3) The undertakers shall not be liable to any forfeiture under this section in any case where they show that the deficiency or failure was due to circumstances not within their control, nor shall the undertakers be liable for more than one forfeiture in respect of any one day for any deficiency in calorific value, composition, or pressure of gas supplied from any one works.
|
|
| |
(4) If in any quarter the average calorific value of the gas supplied by any undertakers, ascertained in manner prescribed by the gas referees, is less than the declared calorific value, a sum which the chief gas examiner shall determine to be as nearly as may be the amount by which the revenue of the undertakers has been improperly inceased shall,—
|
|
| |
(a) if the undertakers are a local authority, be applied towards a reduction in the price of gas in the next or some succeeding quarter; and
|
|
| |
(b) in any other case, be deducted from the amount applicable to payment of dividend on the ordinary capital of the undertakers for the year or half-year in which such quarter occurs, and carried forward to the credit of the revenue account for the next following year or half-year in addition to any other amount which would otherwise have been so carried forward, and the divident which the undertakers may pay on their ordinary capital in respect of such first-mentioned year or half-year shall be correspondingly reduced; and
|
|
| |
(c) in every case the amount so ascertained shall be shown in the accounts of the undertakers as a separate item until the undertakers have shown to the satisfaction of the Board of Trade that it has been applied to a reduction in the price of gas.
|
|
| |
For the purposes of this provision, the expression “quarter” means the three months commencing on the first day of January, the first day of April, the first day of July, and the first day of October in any year.
|
|
| |
(5) Proceedings against the undertakers in respect of any forfeiture incurred under this Act may be commenced at any time within three months after the date of the report of the gas examiner, or after the date of the report of the chief gas examiner on appeal, or, in the event of the undertakers duly appealing to the chief gas examiner and withdrawing the appeal, within three months after the date of the receipt of notice of such withdrawal.
|
|
| |
(6) If, on an appeal to the chief gas examiner, he certifies that the default of the undertakers is not substantial or not due to the careless conduct of the undertakers or of their servants, no summary proceedings shall be taken in respect of the default, but the chief gas examiner may by order determine the amount (not exceeding the amount prescribed by subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section as the forfeiture for the default) of the forfeiture to be paid by the undertakers, and any such order shall have effect as if it were an order of a court of summary jurisdiction.
|
| |
Power to make Special Orders.
|
