Bharath Ram, Researcher - Consumer Protection

A study by CAG to assess TANGEDCO's adherence to TNERC's Distribution Standard of Performance, 2004. These regulations serve to protect consumers and ensure they receive prescribed standards of high-quality, reliable electricity. This study analyses findings for the year 2016.

Electricity Consumer Cells (ECCs) work in their respective districts (Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, and Vellore) to help consumers by addressing their concerns around electricity issues and to raise awareness about energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. To further their reach, ECCs have started advertising their services in various channels. Some of the means of communication are a) handbill distribution, b) newspaper advertisements, and c) television advertisements. The main objectives are i) To let people know about ECCs,  their  functions, and  contact details with additional details of  helping consumers with their complaints / queries related to electricity ii) To create awareness on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy by providing details and tips.

Handbills

Handbills were distributed to consumers either in person, with all of the COVID-19 precautions, or as insets in newspapers. This operation was carried out once a month by all ECCs in their respective districts.
 

Image 1:printed handbill

Image 2: Handbills distributed by placing inside Newspaper.

Image3:Handbills distributed in person.

Newspaper advertisements of size 120 sq. cm were published in major newspapers of the respective ECC districts. This activity was carried out once a month by all ECCs in their respective districts.

Image 4:advertisement printed on newspaper

Image 5:advertisement printed on newspaper

Image 6:advertisement printed on newspaper

Scrolling type television advertisements were given in the local television channels. The advertisements were broadcasted 10 times a day at 60-minute intervals for 30 days.
 

Image 7: scrolling type advertisement on local television channel

Image 8: scrolling type advertisement on local television channel

As a result of continuing the advertisement activities during October 2020 to December 2020, ECCs were able to reach more people. ECCs reached 30,000 consumers during these three months. The number of complaints and queries received from consumers also considerably increased during this period. 

Electricity Consumer Cells (ECCs) work in their respective districts (Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, and Vellore) to help consumers by addressing their concerns around electricity issues and to raise awareness about energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. To further their reach, ECCs have started advertising their services in various channels. Some of the means of communication are a) handbill distribution, b) newspaper advertisements, and c) television advertisements. The main objectives are i) To let people know about ECCs,  their  functions, and  contact details with additional details of  helping consumers with their complaints / queries related to electricity ii) To create awareness on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy by providing details and tips. 

Handbills

Handbills were distributed to consumers either in person, with all of the COVID-19 precautions, or as insets in newspapers. This operation was carried out once a month by all ECCs in their respective districts.

Image 1: Handbills distributed by placing inside Newspaper.

Newspaper advertisements of size 120 sq. cm were published in major newspapers of the respective ECC districts. This activity was carried out once a month by all ECCs in their respective districts.

Image 2:advertisement printed on newspaper

Image 3: advertisement printed on newspaper

ECCs have been able to reach more than 10000 consumers during January 2021. As a result, the number of complaints and queries received by ECCs from consumers have also considerably increased during this period. 

Electricity Consumer Cells (ECCs) have conducted two outreach meetings in the month of March. Participants from different consumer categories such as commercial, agricultural, and domestic attended the meetings in:

1. Devalapuram Village, Ambur, Vellore District on March 11,2020

2. Vayalur Village, Trichy district on March 13,2020.

Presentation by ECC representatives

ECC coordinators explained the importance of conducting outreach meetings, which are platforms to discuss the electricity-related issues and create awareness on energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy. 

Image

ECC advisors described the functions and role of the ECCs in their respective districts. They explained the nature of complaints registered with ECC and its redressal mechanism. ECC Advisors work in collaboration  with Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) in resolving the complaints. They also mentioned that some complaints were registered on the grievance day meeting, which required the attention of the higher officials. At the end of the presentation, ECC advisors answered questions asked by the participants on name transfer, billing problems, difference between the analog meter and digital meter, irregular meter assessment by the assessor.   

Image

Image 2: Mr. Balaraman, Advisor, ECC-Vellore, addressing the participants

Presentation by ECC Engineers

CAG representatives gave a detailed explanation about energy conservation and energy efficiency practices that can be followed at the household level through a presentation. It helps the participants to understand the importance of conserving energy through behavioural practices. Along with the presentation, they demonstrated the working of solar energy with a demonstration kit, which had a 20 Watt solar panel, a 12 Volt - 7 Ampere hour battery, a charge controller and a 2 Watt LED bulb. Further, they explained the process for installing the rooftop solar, its subsidies and warranties. At the end of the presentation, participants had a better understanding on the difference between the power consumption of a normal bulb and an LED bulb. 

Image

Image 3: Ms. P. Dhivya, ECC Engineer explaining about energy efficiency and energy conservation

Electricity Consumer Cells (ECCs) have conducted ten outreach meetings at different locations in the month of February. Participants from different consumer categories such as commercial, agricultural, and domestic attended the meetings

1. Samudhaya Kudam, Subash Chandra Bose Street, Mela Karunkulam, (Near Melapalayam), Tirunelveli – 627002 on February 18, 2020

2. Deepam Magalir Kootamaipu Training Institute, #52,  Mounaguru St, Vallimalai Road, Chenkottai, Katpadi- 633 007 on February 22, 2020

3. Rotary Hall, Sankagiri, Salem District on February 24, 2020

4. Vadapuzhthiyur village, Naidumangalam P.O., Kalasapakkam Taluk, Tiruvannamalai District on February 24, 2020

5. Panchayat Office meeting hall, C.Mutlur, Parangipettai Union, Chidambaram Taluk, Cuddalore District on February 25, 2020

6. Samuthaya kudam, Kulumani panchayat, Trichy District on February 25, 2020

7. Enthal village & P.O., Tiruvannamalai  Taluk & District on February 28, 2020

8. Village Panchayat Office Compound, Near Panchayat School, Koothampakkam  - 632 505 on February 29, 2020

9. Kollakudi High School,  Kollakudi Village, Trichy District on February 29,2020 

10. Thangal Park, Chittu Oragadam, Ambattur on February 29, 2020 

Presentation by ECC representatives

ECC coordinators explained the importance of conducting outreach meetings which are to discuss electricity-related issues and create awareness on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

Image

Image 1: Mr. Selvaraj, Chairman, FEDCOT India, explaining about the outreach meeting objectives

ECC advisors described the functions and role of the ECCs in their respective districts. They explained the nature of complaints registered with ECC and its redressal mechanism. ECC Advisors said that they work closely with the  Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) in resolving the complaints. Further, they also mentioned that some complaints were registered on the grievance day meeting, which required the attention of the higher officials. At the end of the presentation, ECC advisors answered questions from participants on name transfer, billing problems, difference between the analog meter, and Digital meter, irregular meter assessment by the assessor.

Image

Image 2: Mr. Venkatachalam, President, Tirunelveli District Consumer Rights Protection Sangam addressing the participants

Presentation by ECC Engineers

CAG representatives gave a detailed explanation about energy conservation and energy efficiency practices that can be followed at the household level. The presentation helped the participants understand the importance of saving energy through behavioural practices. Further, they demonstrated the working of solar energy with the help of a demonstration kit, which had a 20 Watt solar panel, a 12 Volt - 7 Ampere hour battery, a charge controller and a 2 Watt LED bulb. At the end of the presentation, participants were able to get clarity on the difference between the power consumption of a normal bulb and an LED bulb.  

Image

Image 3: Ms. Prithiv Raj, ECC Engineer, explaining about energy efficiency and energy conservation

Presentation by Solar Developers 

Solar developers from Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Vellore, Trichy, and Salem participated in the outreach meetings. They explained the importance of solar energy and its advantages. Further, they explained the procedure for installing rooftop solar systems. Also, they differentiated the net-metering and net feed-in mechanisms with an example. At the end of the session, the developers clarified questions raised by the participants on lifetime of the plant, pay-back period, etc.

Image

Image

Representative from TANGEDCO:

Mr.K.Karthikeyan, Assistant Engineer, TNEB, Salem district, encouraged the work of ECC and he also requested the village people to bring their grievances to him for immediate actions.

Image

Image 6: M.K.Karthikeyan, Assistant Engineer, TNEB, Salem district, addressing the participants

Major issues raised and complaints registered through the Outreach meetings

1. Ms.A from Melakarunkulam village enquired about the procedure for name transfer of the existing connection. Mr.S.Shanmugam, Advisor, ECC Tirunelveli, advised her to submit Indemnity Bond of Rs.80/- along with the xerox copy of the sale deed in her favour for the said premises enclosed along with the FORM-1(Regulation 5(7)) to the Junior Engineer.

2. Mr.B from Kulumani village registered a complaint with ECC Trichy on a meter related problem. Mr. Selvam, Advisor, ECC Trichy, recommended that Mr.B submit a complaint to the Assistant Engineer about this issue also to submit a copy of the complaint to ECC Trichy.

3. Mr.C from Kulumani village complained about the damaged pole near her house. Mr.Selvam, Advisor, ECC Trichy, advised him to file a complaint to the TANGEDCO WhatsApp numbers with the picture of it.

4. Mr.D from Sankagiri village complained that his meter has been damaged as informed by the assessor while taking the meter reading. The average consumption units were entered in the white meter card as the current consumption charges for two billing cycles. Mr. Jayaraman, Advisor, ECC Salem, advised Mr.D to submit a written complaint to the section office.

5. Mr. E from Senguttai village, Vellore district, complained about voltage fluctuations during the night. Mr.Balaraman, Advisor, ECC Vellore, advised the complainant to register with Assistant Engineer, Rural North Arakkonam for the speedy rectification.

6. Mr. F from Enthal village, Tiruvannamalai district, registered a complaint for the replacement of the broken RCC pole near a school. Mr. Anandan, Advisor, ECC Tiruvannamalai, to register the complaint with the Assistant Engineer /O&M/Patchel to replace the broken pole. 

7. Mr. G, Vada Puzhuthiyur, Tiruvannamalai district, registered a complaint on delay in effecting the service connection for his house. The complainant had submitted the required documents a month ago to the Junior Engineer/North Poondi with his application. Mr.Anandan, Advisor, ECC Tiruvannamalai, informed Mr.G that ECC will approach the Junior Engineer for speedy resolution.

Introduction

Electricity Consumer Cells (ECCs) have conducted ten outreach meetings in the month of January 2020. Participants from different consumer categories such as commercial, agricultural, and domestic attended the meetings.

The venue and date of the meetings are as follows:

1. Panchayat Office Building, Kavanoor Village, Arakkonam, Vellore on January 08, 2020

2. St. Moses Matriculation School, Menambedu, Tiruvallur on January 11, 2020

3. Uliyampakkam Village, Arakkonam Taluk, Vellore on January 24, 2020

4. Government High School, Maniyanoor, Pachapatti, Salem on January 25, 2020

5. Panchayat Office, Sitlarai, Trichy on January 25, 2020

6. Kannakurukai village, Chengam Taluk, Tiruvannamalai on January 27, 2020

7. Government High School, Thandalam, Thiruvallur  on January 30, 2020

8. Muppudathiamman Koil Campus, Elanthaikulam, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli on January 30, 2020

9. Panchayat Office, Alagapatti, Trichy on January 31, 2020; and

10. Sivapuri Village, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram Taluk, Cuddalore on January 31, 2020.

Presentation by ECC representatives

ECC coordinators explained the importance of conducting outreach meetings which are a platform to discuss the electricity-related issues and create awareness on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. 

ECC advisors described the functions and role of the ECCs in their respective districts. They explained the consumer complaint redressal mechanism and the relationship with  Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) in resolving the complaints. ECC Advisors acknowledged TANGEDCO officials for supporting redressal of complaints including high-value complaints such as increasing the capacity of transformers, setting up of additional transformers in a particular area, etc. They also mentioned that most of the complaints were resolved through telephonic conversations with the TANGEDCO officials. 

Image

Image 1: Mr. Anandan, Advisor, ECC-Tiruvnannamalai, addressing the participants

Presentation by ECC Engineers 

A detailed explanation about energy conservation and energy efficiency practices that can be followed at the household level was given by CAG representatives. The presentation helped the participants to understand the importance of saving energy through behavioural practices. Further, they demonstrated the working of solar energy with a demonstration kit, which has a 20 Watt solar panel, a 12 Volt - 7 Ampere hour battery, a charge controller and a 2 Watt LED bulb. At the end of the presentation, participants were clarified on the placing of home appliances, the advantages of using star labelled products etc. The necessity for renewable energy in the present scenario was also imparted with an overview of the increasing electricity crisis and global environmental issues.

Image

Ms. P. Dhivya, ECC Engineer explaining about energy efficiency and energy conservation

Representative from TANGEDCO:

Mr.Sundaram, a TANGEDCO official from Arakkonam, clarified the questions asked by the participants on the frequent power fluctuations, uninformed shutdown and delay in taking meter readings. He also informed the participants to approach the Assistant Engineer at the section office for redressing the complaints in an easy manner.

Image

 Image 2: Mr. Sundaram, TANGEDCO official, Arakkonam addressing the participants

Presentation by Solar Developers 

Solar developers from Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Salem participated in the outreach meetings. They explained the importance of solar energy and its advantages. Further, they explained the procedure for installing rooftop solar systems. Also, they differentiated the net-metering and net feed-in mechanisms with an example. At the end of the session, the developers clarified the questions raised by the participants on the lifetime of the plant, pay-back period, etc..

Major issues raised and complaints registered through the Outreach meetings 

1. Mr. A from Tiruvannamalai registered a complaint about the replacement of the damaged Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) pole of a transformer, which was in a dangerous condition. Mr. Anandhan, Advisor, ECC Tiruvannamalai, advised Mr.A to submit a written complaint to the concerned Assistant Engineer for replacing the damaged pole. 

2. Mr. B from Vellore complained about the non-availability of the street light pole in a main street. Mr. Balaraman, Advisor, ECC Vellore helped Mr.B in drafting a complaint letter to be submitted to the local body and Assistant Engineer for necessary action. 

3. Mr.C, from Sivapuri village, complained about the delay in taking meter reading by the assessor. Mr. Radha Krishnan, Advisor, ECC Cuddalore advised submitting a written complaint about the issue to the Assistant Engineer.

4. Mr.D from Pachapatti village asked about the procedure for changing of temporary service connection to commercial service connection. As per the request Mr.Jayaram, Advisor, ECC Salem explained the process and advised Mr.E to submit a letter to Assistant Engineer explaining the purpose of tariff change along with valid documents.

5. Mr. E from Maniyanoor village complained about the non-availability of street lights in the Burial ground at Maniyanoor village. Mr.Jayaram, Advisor, ECC Salem, informed the consumer to submit a letter to the local EB office.

Electricity Consumer cells (ECCs) have conducted outreach meetings in the month of October at Thervoy (Tiruvallur), Ayakudi (Cuddalore), Christu Raja Higher Secondary School, Palayamkottai (Tirunelveli), Malapambady & Kothanthavady (Tiruvannamalai), Tharamangalam(Tiruchirappalli), Ambarishapuram(Vellore).

Mr. Vellusami, Advisor, ECC-Trichy, explained the aim of conducting the outreach programme to the participants - farmers, domestic, commercial consumers, and school students.

Mr. Ashokan, Advisor, ECC-Tiruvallur, described the objectives and functions of ECC. He also mentioned the process of registering the complaints and redressal mechanisms. He mentioned the majority of the complaints registered with the ECCs are solved in a week’s time.

Mr.Bharath Ram, Researcher, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group, described in detail a few posters on efficient lighting in the houses and advantages of natural ventilation and cooling while constructing a house.

Mr. Anto Jayaraj.I, Solar Developer, demonstrated the benefits of using solar energy and the process of installing the rooftop solar. During the session, few participants asked questions about the quality of the panels, manufacturers, warranty, and related questions.

At the end of the session, few participants registered their complaints on the following: 

1) Mr.A, from Tiruvannamalai, registered a complaint regarding the shifting of meter for his house.Mr.Anandan, Advisor, ECC-Tiruvannamalai advised the complainant to register the complaint with the Assistant Engineer and pay the required fees for shifting the meter.  

2) Mr.B, an agricultural consumer from Vellore had registered a complaint on the low sagging wire in her agricultural field. She said that the wires are sagging on the ground level which causes short-circuit and damages. Mr.Jayapal, Advisor, ECC - Vellore, advised her to file a complaint with the local EB office. 

3) Mr.C, a commercial consumer, from Vellore, registered a complaint about frequent power fluctuations during the night time. Mr.Jayapal, Advisor, ECC - Vellore advised Mr. C to file a written complaint with the Assistant Engineer about the same. He requested the complainant to send the photocopy of the complaint, to follow up with the Assistant Engineer. 

Electricity Consumer cells (ECCs) have conducted outreach meetings in the month of November at Ponneri and St.Paul’s Matriculation School, Avadi (Tiruvallur), Neyveli (Cuddalore), Reddyarpettai (Tirunelveli), Periyapudhur (Salem), Pettaivaithalai (Tiruchirappalli), Perumoochi and Keelapakkam (Vellore).

Mr. Vellusami, Advisor, ECC-Tiruchirappalli explained the aim of conducting the outreach programme to the participants, which included, farmers, and domestic, commercial consumers and school students.

Mr. Balaraman, Advisor, ECC-Vellore, described the objectives and functions of ECC. He also mentioned the process of registering the complaints and the redressal mechanism. He mentioned that the majority of the complaints registered with the ECCs are solved in a week’s time.

Ms. Dhivya Purshoth, ECC Engineer, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group(CAG), made a presentation on energy efficiency and energy conservation topics by giving simple examples to the participants. With the help of the poster designed by CAG, she gave a few tips on reducing the electricity bill. She gave a demonstration on solar rooftop with the help of the demo kit, which comprises a solar panel, battery, bulbs etc. 

Mr. D. Kumar, from a solar developer firm, described the process of installing the rooftop solar and its benefits. During the session, few participants asked questions about the quality of the panels, manufacturers, warranty, and other related questions.

At the end of the session, few participants registered their complaints on the following: 

1) Mr.X, from Tiruvallur, registered a complaint on delay in taking meter reading by the assessors. Mr.Ashokan, Advisor, ECC-Tiruvallur advised the complainant to meet the local section office and register the complaint. He said the Assistant Engineer will look into the complaint and address it. 

2) Mr.Y, an agricultural consumer from Tiruchirappalli registered a complaint on delay in effecting the service connection after paying the required fees and submitting the application. Mr. Velusami, Advisor, ECC - Tiruchirappalli, requested the complainant to check the status of the application with the Junior Engineer and said that the ECC will also follow-up until the complaint is resolved. 

3) A residential welfare association from Salem, registered a complaint on nonfunctioning of street lights in two lanes. Mr.Jayaraman, Advisor, ECC - Salem, enquired and advised them to file a written complaint with the local body and local EB office. Also informed them to register these types of complaints with TANGEDCO’s WhatsApp number.