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‘Power’ gang becomes thorn in flesh for power distribution company
The Power department in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district is facing an unusual problem for the past three months. A parallel gang of electricians are resuming the power connections of hundreds of consumers, disconnected for non-payment of power bills and illegal connections
A gang of ‘electricians’ who have allegedly been restoring connections cut off by the state power department is creating nightmares for the authorities in Morena district.
The Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MKVVCL) suspects the involvement of former staff and contractual employees in the ‘gang’.
So far, the gang has allegedly resumed power connections of hundreds of consumers which were disconnected for being illegal or over non-payment of bills.
Members of the gang reportedly follow personnel of the MKVVCL and whenever they disconnect supply, the gang offers restoration for a fee.
The matter came to light after the MKVVCL started cutting connections under a new campaign it launched to bring down losses due to illegal connections.
They were surprised to find that many customers did not turn up to pay their bills.
A check by the agency stunned officials when they saw that consumers were enjoying power supply. The gang charges ₹100- ₹1,000 per connection for restoring power, said a customer.
Requesting anonymity, a consumer, against whom a case has been registered for unauthorized reconnection, said, “There are many people who are facing hardships because of spiked power bills... We cannot afford to pay the bill... They didn’t take any payment from poor people ...”
“As the company is outsourcing many services including power connections, there are chances former employees of these companies, are now being used against the company,” said an officer of the company.
MKVVCL, deputy general manager, operation and management, Shishir Gupta agreed. “This gang is being operated under the expertise of former employees or contractual employees of the company. We have registered 52 cases ...for unauthorised reconnections. We are gathering proof against the gang so that we can register a criminal case against them.”
The Power department in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district is facing an unusual problem for the past three months. A parallel gang of electricians are resuming the power connections of hundreds of consumers, disconnected for non-payment of power bills and illegal connections.
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MKVVCL), Morena had launched a campaign to decrease the losses incurred to the company because of illegal connections and non-payment of bills.
After snapping the connections of many consumers, the power officials were expecting these consumers to come running to the department to get their connection restored.
However, when only a handful turned up to pay, the officials realized that something was amiss. A reality check stunned the officials as they saw that the consumers were enjoying power supply.
Apparently, a gang of ‘electricians’ follows the power department personnel and whenever the latter disconnect power connections the gang members offer resumption of power supply.
The gang charges Rs 100 to Rs 1000 per connection but they are doing it free of cost too for poor people.
Requesting anonymity, a consumer, against whom a case has been registered by the company for unauthorized reconnection, said, “There are many people who are facing hardships because of spiked power bills. In the company nobody pays attention to our problem. We are very poor to pay the bill in thousands. The gang has helped many poor people. They didn’t take any payment from poor people while charged up to Rs 1000 from those who can afford to pay.”
The company is suspecting that former employees and contractual employees are involved in the gang. “Climbing a pole to resume the connections can’t be done by a general electrician. As the company is outsourcing many services including the power connections so there are chances that former employees of these outsourced companies, are now being used against the company,” said an officer of the company, who did not give his name as he is not authorised to comment.
MKVVCL, deputy general manager, operation and management, Shishir Gupta agrees, “This gang is being operated under the expertise of former employees or contractual employees of the company. We have registered 52 cases under section 138 of Indian Electricity Act for unauthorised reconnection of the bills, We are gathering proofs against the gang so that we can register a criminal case against them.”
