Stop Tangedco from forcing Aadhaar linking: Activists

CHENNAI: Coimbatore Consumer Cause, a consumer right organisation, has written to the state energy department urging it to direct the distribution licensee - Tangedco - not to harass the public by forcing them to link their Aadhaar with the service connection number.

“Only the state which issued the notification for linking Aadhaar and paying the subsidy is competent to announce the deadline. Hence, the licensee should follow the same,” the consumer organisation secretary K Kathirmathiy on said, in a letter.

Pointing to the government order dated October 6 that mandated Aadhaar linking of the service connection of the domestic, hut, agricultural, handloom and power loom consumers to avail of the government subsidy, he said that the order did not specify any deadline for linking the Aadhaar, but requested the Tangedco to give wide publicity and start the linking process.

He noted that the GO mentioned that the consumers who did not have an Aadhaar should submit the Aadhaar enrolment identity slip along with bank passbook or voter identity card or ration card or PAN card or Passport or driving licence or any other documents “The licensee has not made any provision to accept alternate documents as spelt out in GO,” he pointed out.