Electricity consumers rue delay in tariff and name change processes

CHENNAI: Electricity consumers complain about the delay in effecting the change of tariff from commercial to domestic and the lack of clarity over the name change.

A consumer at Mogappair complained that despite payment of required fees for the change of tariff, the application was not processed by the local TANGEDCO section office.

As per the regulation, TANGEDCO has to effect the change of tariff within seven days from the date of receipt of the application from the consumer.

However, the consumer alleged that he had submitted the application on December 15 but it is still not processed.

Several consumers who wanted to change the name of their domestic connections to link their Aadhaar with the service connection numbers are facing issues like mandatory submission of the application online only.

"When I went to the special counter to submit the application for the name change of domestic connection, the officials refused to accept the application and asked me to submit it online only. As I am not aware of the online process, the staff directed me to a private e-services centre to file it online. They charge me Rs 200 for filing the application, " a consumer at Kolathur complained.

He said that the TANGEDCO staff should accept the physical application and they should scan the documents on their own if they wanted.

A TANGEDCO official said that the utility has made it mandatory to file applications online for new service connections and name changes to simplify the process. "People should make use of the e-Sewa centres to file online applications paying a nominal charge. It helps tracking the application easy, " the official added.