Ludhiana: Over 32,000 power complaints pending amid outsourced staff strike

Data for the period from July 23 to August 23 shows that 8,31,460 complaints were registered through the 1912 system across the Central Zone, of which 32,953 are still pending as of August 23

More than 32,000 power complaints are still pending in PSPCL’s Central Zone as the strike by outsourced employees enters its second month, disrupting complaint processing and routing to field staff.

PSPCL says alternative manpower arrangements are being made to attend complaints and restore supply. (ht photo)

Data for the period from July 23 to August 23 shows that 8,31,460 complaints were registered through the 1912 system across the Central Zone, of which 32,953 are still pending as of August 23. The Central Zone comprises four circles — Ludhiana East, Ludhiana West, Ludhiana Sub-Urban and Khanna.

Outsourced employees working at the Nodal Complaint Centres (NCCs), which process and route complaints to junior engineers and field staff, have remained off duty since July 23. Their absence has affected complaint distribution, typing work and completion of job orders at sub-divisions, creating delays between the registration of a complaint and its assignment to the concerned field team.

Outsourced staff are also deployed at Suvidha Kendras, Consumer Response Centres, metering laboratories, stores and other consumer-service wings, affecting several consumer-facing functions.

The impact is being felt by consumers. BRS Nagar resident Gupal Singh said a blown fuse at his house left his family without electricity for around seven hours.

“The fuse went off in the evening and we got the supply back around midnight. We had registered a complaint through 1912, but there was no effective response for several hours. We had to keep waiting for the supply to be restored,” he said.

Sonal Sharma, who recently visited a PSPCL sub-division office for consumer-related work, said the disruption was evident at the ground level.

“Consumers are coming to the office because they are not getting their work done through the normal process. When there is a problem, people expect the complaint system to route it to the concerned staff, but the delay is making consumers visit offices themselves,” she said.

The delays are particularly affecting complaints related to repeated tripping, fuse failures and localised faults. While PSPCL has maintained that electricity supply is being managed through alternative arrangements, officials have acknowledged pressure on consumer-facing services and fault-related processes because of the manpower shortage.

Chief engineer, PSPCL Central Zone, Jagdev Singh Hans said the corporation was making efforts to minimise inconvenience to consumers.

“We are managing the available manpower and making alternative arrangements to attend complaints and restore supply. The absence of outsourced employees has affected certain consumer-service functions, but our teams are making every effort to ensure that complaints are attended to at the earliest,” he said.

PSEB Employees Federation AITUC state secretary Gurpreet Singh Mehdudaan said the employees were continuing their agitation because assurances given during earlier discussions had not been implemented.

“Our agitation is not against consumers or the department’s functioning. We have been seeking resolution of our long-pending demands and implementation of commitments already made to employees. Several rounds of discussions have taken place, but there has been no concrete outcome, which is why the employees have been forced to continue the struggle,” he said.

The prolonged strike has also increased pressure on PSPCL’s regular workforce, which is handling functions earlier supported by outsourced employees. The corporation has been considering alternative manpower arrangements, but replacing experienced outsourced workers in complaint processing and other specialised functions remains a challenge.