Provide new power connection to applicants within a week: UPPCL chief
UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) chairman Ashish Kumar Goel on Wednesday directed engineers to ensure that people got a new electricity connection within a definite time limit of one week from the day they applied for and completed formalities.
UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) chairman Ashish Kumar Goel on Wednesday directed engineers to ensure that people got a new electricity connection within a definite time limit of one week from the day they applied for and completed formalities.
Holding a meeting here in the Shakti Bhawan he said providing a power connection to all was the corporation’s policy. “If a junior engineer or a sub-divisional officer feels a power connection cannot be given for a certain reason, he must explain the same to the executive engineer concerned who will ensure further action,” he said. “Work with the mindset that you have to give the connection,” he added.
Pointing out that there is no provision issuing an estimate to a consumer demanding a power connection within 40-metre distance from the pole and up to 50 kw connection load, Goel asked officials to ensure strict compliance of this rule.
Underlining the need for recovering the revenue equal to the cost of power supply, he said all efforts should be made to issue only correct bills to consumers and replace defective meters as quickly as possible.
The chairman further said a swift action should be taken on zero-unit bills, low-consumption bills, negative bills and high-value bills every month immediately after the master data was received.
He said consumers should be encouraged and trained to pay their bills online. Goel also said JEs should be made responsible for recovery of dues up to ₹10,000, SDO for ₹10,000 to ₹1 lakh, executive engineer for ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh and superintending engineers for dues above ₹10 lakh.
UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Avdhesh Kumar Verma alleged that consumers in many rural areas were being billed at the urban rate in the name of increased supply hours there.
“Inflated bills have been issued to rural consumers in Mainpuri,” he said giving an example and demanded the UPPCL to refund the excess amount recovered from consumers. “The UP Electricity Regulatory Commission has already ruled that rural consumers cannot be charged at urban rate unless the feeder that supplies power to them is declared an urban feeder,” Verma pointed out.