Lucknow, 24 March: State Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma on Wednesday approached the power defaulters with more than one lakh arrears and informed the benefits of timely bill payment and One Time Settlement (OTS) for cheaper electricity.
Sharma also sought suggestions from consumers and small shopkeepers in Sector 20, 22 and 25 of Indra Nagar area. On receiving their feedback, he instructed officers and engineers to clear the deficiencies immediately.
The Energy Minister made a surprise inspection of the Indira Nagar Sector 24 sub-station today and gave instructions regarding timely disposal of power consumers’ problems.
Expressing displeasure over the deficiencies in the arrangements of the Sub-station and Meter Testing Lab, the Managing Director instructed to conduct a technical audit there.
He said that bill should be given at the right time. All complaints of consumers should be resolved promptly.
The Energy Minister said that all eligible consumers should be registered in the OTS in all the districts of the capital and Madhyanchal. Managing Director will ensure that everyone benefits from it. At present, only 30 percent of the total eligible consumers have been registered in Lucknow, owing Rs 172.56 crore.
He said that the power defaulters of more than one lakh arrears should be updated frequently in the next 48 hours. Tell them the benefits of OTS, get everyone registered and the Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation should ensure it.
He also expressed displeasure over the fact that the authorities do not communicate with consumers, which is adversely affecting our standards of consumer satisfaction.
He instructed the MD to strengthen all the arrangements and also ensure accountability. Technical audit of the sub-center and meter testing lab on deficiencies was also directed to fix the accountability.
The Energy Minister said that consumers who do not deposit instalments under the Easy Instalment Scheme and Farmer Easy Installment Scheme can also avail 100 percent surcharge waiver under OTS. Ensure that all the Managing Directors, Chairman of Power Corporation review it. Not a single eligible consumer should be left out of the scheme.
He directed that all the proposals which have come in view of summer, should be re-tested and all the preparations should be completed as per the requirement. Do not have problems of tripping in summer, officials should inspect sub-centers and transformers and fix the deficiencies. If there is a problem in the summer, then the accountability of DISCOM will also be decided.
