The regular employees of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Monday agreed to call off their mass leave, but the outsourced employees and Complaint Handling Bike (CHB) workers refused to withdraw their agitation.
The two categories of workers that form the backbone of PSPCL’s day-to-day consumer operations have been striking work since July 22, disrupting complaint handling, billing services and first-level fault response.
Unlike the regular technical workforce that manages power generation, transmission and grid operations, outsourced employees and CHB workers are responsible for keeping PSPCL’s consumer service mechanism functional.
The outsourced employees are deployed at Suvidha Kendras, the 1912 National Call Centre (NCC), Consumer Response Centres (CRC), meter laboratories, stores, PESCO and several other consumer service units. They handle complaint registration, bill corrections, new electricity connections, faulty meter replacement, load enhancement requests and forward consumer complaints to field staff for action.
The CHB employees, on the other hand, attend local electricity complaints, replace blown fuses, carry out first-level fault rectification and restore supply in urban areas. With both outsourced staff and CHB teams remaining off duty, the corporation’s consumer response mechanism continues to function under considerable pressure despite the return of regular employees.
Power consumers are feeling the impact. Poonam, who visited a Suvidha Kendra in Ludhiana, to get her electricity bill corrected, said she had to return without getting her work done. “Regular employees may have resumed duty, but the staff handling consumer services are still not available. People are making repeated visits, but routine work is not moving,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Power consumers are feeling the impact. Poonam, who visited a Suvidha Kendra in Ludhiana, to get her electricity bill corrected, said she had to return without getting her work done. “Regular employees may have resumed duty, but the staff handling consumer services are still not available. People are making repeated visits, but routine work is not moving,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, Vivek Mehta, who had approached the department for a new electricity connection, said his application remained pending. “I was hoping services would resume after the strike ended, but I was informed that the concerned staff is still not available. Consumers are the ones facing the inconvenience,” he said.
The protesting workers maintain that they will not withdraw their agitation until the government implements its commitments.
Balhar Singh, president of the Power and Transco Theka Mulazim Union Punjab, said the unions had received assurances on several occasions in the past, but little had changed on the ground.
“We are not ending our agitation merely on another written assurance. Our primary demand is that eligible outsourced employees working in NCC, CRC, PESCO and other wings should be brought directly onto the PSPCL payroll instead of working through contractors. CHB employees should also be regularised, pending identity cards should be issued, and employees should receive job security and service benefits. Until formal notifications are issued and implementation begins, our protest will continue,” he said.
PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director Basant Garg said, “We held a constructive meeting with representatives of the CHB employees. The government has agreed to address all reasonable demands and has given written assurances regarding the issues raised by them. We are hopeful that the remaining employees will also return to work shortly, after which consumer services across the state will gradually return to normal.”