ECC Cuddalore organized an outreach meeting on July 16, 2017 in association with Southern Consumer Organisation for Protection & Empowerment (SCOPE) at Kollidam (Nagapattinam). ECC hand bills were distributed to the public in villages of Aachalpuram, Santhapadugai, Muthalameduthittu, Kadaikkanvinayaganallur, Thaikkal, Puthur, and Arasur as a part of the meeting.

ECC, Cuddalore, distributed ECC handbills to the public in villages of Aachalpuram, Santhapadugai, Muthalameduthittu, Kadaikkanvinayaganallur, Thaikkal, Puthur, and Arasur. Mr. M. Selvaraj, Trustee, (SCOPE) in-charge of Electricity Consumer Cell, Tiruvallur, spoke about Energy Consumption and Energy Efficiency. Mr.K.Narayanan, Managing Trustee, (SCOPE) and ECC Cuddalore Coordinator, gave a brief overview of the complaints registered in ECC. He stated that 200 people benefited from this outreach meeting at Kollidam (Nagapattinam).

Distribution of hand bills, Kollidam

ECC Tirunelveli conducted outreach meetings at Sindupooithurai (August 30, 2017) and Palayamkottai (September 27, 2017) of Tirunelveli District in association with Tirunelveli District Consumer Rights Protection Sangam. 

The objective of the meeting was to educate and create awareness among consumers on ECC functions, energy governance, and electricity problems. Mr.Venkatachalam, Coordinator, ECC Tirunelveli, explained the objectives of ECC Tirunelveli in detail and highlighted the role of ECC in maintaining a strong relationship between consumers and service providers. He advised the consumers to directly meet the electricity officials rather than field staff.

Mr. Shanmugam clarified questions raised by consumers on electricity complaints such as name transfer, tariff change, voltage fluctuation, etc. He demonstrated the advantages of solar energy and gave a comparative analysis of energy consumption with normal bulbs and LED bulbs/tube lights. He discussed the complaints registered with ECC Tirunelveli and encouraged consumers to contact them at any time. During the meeting, ECC handbills were distributed to participants from the locality.

Explaining about Electricity Consumer Cell, Sindupooithurai

Distribution of handbills, Palayamkottai

Distribution of handbills, Palayamkottai

ECC - Tiruvallur conducted intensive outreach meetings with the help of Madras Metropolitan Consumer Rights and Protection Centre (MMCRPC) in the following places – Arani (July 02, 2017), Periyapalayam (August 12, 2017), Kedar (September 05, 2017) and Puthur (September 22, 2017) of Tiruvallur District to promote ECC among the public. It was organized by Mr. M.Selvaraj (General Secretary MMCRPC), Mr.V.Asokan (ECC Advisor), and Mr. S.Premkumar (ECC Co-coordinator). ECC handbills were distributed to the public and students of Tiruvallur district. Mr. M.Selvaraj, General Secretary, MMCRPC, explained the functions and objectives of ECC and described the process of registering electricity complaints.

Mr.V.Ashokan explained the concept of energy efficiency and energy conservation to the public. Subsequently, he explained the advantages of solar energy, LED bulbs, and tube lights that consume less energy. In addition, he presented a comparative analysis between energy consumption of normal bulbs, tube lights with LED bulbs, and tube lights based on their wattage and voltage.

Finally, consumers registered their complaints in the advisory form given to them. The experts offered suggestions to some of the complainants, which may be solved by drafting a letter to the concerned officials.

Mr.M.Selvaraj, explains the functioning of ECC and handling complaints in Arani

Handbills issued to public, Kedar

Demonstration on energy consumption, Periyapalayam

Consumer complaint being registered during Outreach Meeting, Kedar

Capacity building programme of Electricity Consumer Cell (ECC) Tirunelveli was held on August 19, 2017 at Little Flower Middle School, Kodeswaran Nagar, Tirunelveli Town.

Mr. Venkatachalam, Tirunelveli ECC and Tirunelveli Consumer Protection Association, welcomed the participants and spoke about the work of the ECC and how it is helping consumers in their everyday electricity issues.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Damodharan, Executive Engineer - TANGEDCO Tirunelveli, gave an overview of the Electricity Act 2003, Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF), Distribution Standards of Performance and dealt with specific issues that consumers are facing.

Mr. Selvaraj - President of Madras Metropolitan Consumer Rights Protection Centre (MMCRPC) spoke about the rights of consumers.

Electricity expert, Mr. Shanmugam (ECC - Tirunelveli) gave a presentation on the importance of solar energy.

Mr. C. Manivannan from Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture company set up under the Ministry of Power, gave an in-depth presentation on EESL's work, advantage of using LED bulbs, and also showed a demo for LED bulbs and tube-lights.

Several participants asked questions to Mr. Damodharan and other speakers regarding the electricity sector and highlighted various issues such as theft of electricity, conversion of residential to commercial connections. One participant requested to start an ECC Contact Centre in their area.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) brought their products from Chennai and sold LED bulbs and Tube lights to the participants. Around 250 bulbs and 20 Tube lights were sold to the participants.

Distribution of ECC Booklet:

The ECC Booklets, prepared by CAG, were released and distributed to all the participants of the capacity building programme. Each folder contains six booklet covering various topics like procedure for obtaining a new connection, change in connection, electricity billing, grievance redress, etc., so as to benefit electricity consumers.

The downloadable links to the ECC booklet are given below

1.  https://www.cag.org.in/database/electricity-service-forms
2.  https://www.cag.org.in/database/procedure-new-service-connection
3.  https://www.cag.org.in/database/know-about-meter-reading
4.  https://www.cag.org.in/database/changes-service-connection
5.  https://www.cag.org.in/database/know-about-electricity-billing
6.  https://www.cag.org.in/database/delivery-quality-electricity-services-and-consumer-grievance-redressal-forum