Electricity Consumer Cells (ECCs) have conducted outreach meetings in the month of August in Tiruninravur (Tiruvallur), Govt. Arts College, Viruthachalam (Cuddalore), Perumalpuram (Tirunelveli), Sakthi Nagar Annex (Salem), Inam Kariyanthal and Devanampattu (Tiruvannamalai), Milagu Parai & Ariyampatti (Tiruchirappalli), Thakkolam and Sayanapuram (Vellore).
Mr.Shanmugam, Advisor, ECC-Tirunelveli explained the purpose of conducting outreach meetings in different areas of the district. Residential consumers, residential welfare associations, small scale handloom industry workers, college students attended the meeting.
Mr. Velusami, Advisor, ECC-Trichy, explained the types of complaints registered in ECCs and described the process of solving the complaints by the ECCs. He explained the roles and responsibilities of TANGEDCO officials and their hierarchy, with the help of the poster designed by CAG. For example, if a consumer applies to get a new agriculture connection, he should submit the application to the Executive Engineer who is responsible for approving the application. On a regular basis, consumers often contact the lineman, meet the assessor while taking the meter reading, and meet the Assistant Engineer for submitting the application.
Mr.Damodaran, Assistant Engineer, TANGEDCO interacted with the participants on the area-level problems and provided solutions to participants’ complaints. People will complain about their queries on frequent power fluctuation, power shut down, meter problem.
Mr. Praveen, NIRT Renewable Energy Private Ltd., explained the various sources of power generation available in Tamil Nadu. He gave a comparison between non-renewable sources vs renewable sources with simple examples. He explained the benefit of installing a rooftop solar for domestic and commercial consumers, especially those who are paying bi-monthly bills above 1000 units.
At the end of the session, few participants registered complaints on the following:
1) Mr.X from Tiruninravur registered a complaint about a damaged pole next to his house. Mr. Ashokan, Advisor, ECC-Tiruvallur inspected the pole after the outreach meeting and explained the process to the consumer. The consumer should write a complaint to the local body, after receiving the complaint the local body will direct the complaint to TANGEDCO for replacement of the damaged pole.2) Mr.Shanmugam, Advisor, ECC-Tirunelveli advised Mr.Y the steps of name transfer for his connection, he informed the consumer to submit the valid documents - white meter card, legal heir certificate, aadhar card along with the application to the Assistant Engineer, Perumalpuram.3) Mr.Z, from Devenampattu, registered a billing-related complaint with Mr. Anandan, Advisor, ECC-Tiruvannamalai. He advised the consumer to file a complaint with the Assistant Engineer, Northampoondy requesting for the reason for overcharging.