New EB consumers charged extra even in OHT localities

CHENNAI: Those applying for new power connections in the Corporation limits like Chennai and Coimbatore are being forced to pay the development charges for underground cables even in places with overhead cables only. Tangedco officials, however, said excess charges paid would be adjusted in subsequent energy bills if the locality had overhead cables.

As the development charges for the underground cables are more than double that of the overhead lines, the consumers wanting to get new service connections are being forced to shell out more.

For a single-phase connection, the consumer has to pay Rs 2,800 per service connection for the OHT lines as development charges and Rs 7,000 per service for the underground cables. In the case of the three-phase connection, the consumers have to pay Rs 2,000 per kilowatt for the overhead lines and Rs 5,000 per kilowatt for the underground cables.

Coimbatore Consumer Cause Secretary K Kathirmathiyon said Tangedco has started fleecing by forcing consumers to pay for the UG cables in places with overhead lines. “In Coimbatore, those applying for new connections were facing this issue since April 13. Officials wash hands saying the change was effected in the software,” he said.

“Tangedco should hold their officials accountable...consumers should not be made to wait for the refund,” he said.

A senior Tangedco official said the consumers were being made to pay the development charges for the underground cable in those section offices marked as mixed under the GIS-based mapping in their software on default. “After inspection by the assistant engineers, the excess charges would be adjusted in their subsequent bills,” the official said.