If news item is to be believed, BESCOM under its MD Manivannan, has raised its ranking in performance. According to the 'New Indian Express' article, BESCOM is now the best performing power distribution company in India.
Source - New Indian Express
"...n 2008, the average time taken by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) to attend to complaints from consumers was two hours. Today, in 2012, it has come down to just 36 minutes. This is testimony to the fact that BESCOM is seemingly becoming the best performing power distribution company in the country.
The upgraded service stations with technology and manpower have resulted in enhanced customer satisfaction. One of the most interesting things is the recently introduced ranking system by the BESCOM. The General Manager (CR), N Jayanthi explains, “We have divided the city into various divisions and four circles..."
Per this news article, here are some highlights of this performance:
- Complaints are categorized and prioritized into 3 - Category A, B and C
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Category A - Complaints of power outages, No power supply
- Complaints should be attended within 1 hour
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Category B - Voltage Fluctuation, Frequent power cut, Billing, Safety, Pole Bent etc.
- Complaints should be attended within 3 days
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Category C - All other complaints
- Complaints should be attended within 15 days
Again testimony to the fact that, performing leaders always perform it doesn't matter how difficult is the terrain. Mr. Manivannan amd his dedicated team at BESCOM deserves praise and Kudos.
Mr. Manivannan Sir, we appreciate your hard work and we wish you all the best in your present and future endeavors.
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Thanks!
Dear Syed,
Thanks for the kind words. The credit goes to the entire team.
We are re-orienting ourselves towards providing the best customer service. That is possible only when are professional and financially stable.
To achieve this, we seek the support from the public, in 3 ways; 1. be aware of what we do, so that you can correct where we go wrong. 2. Participate in decision making 3. participate in our functioning.
The starting point for the above, we believe is, transparency. We have started on that. Soon we will be roping in an NGO to form local citizen committees to do the rest two.
Things change for better, when we take charge. Let's do it together.
regards, Manivannan.
Manivannan
postponing the inevitable
Energy minister Shobha Karandlaje has sent a clear message to the Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) in the state stating that the power sector could turn towards privatisation if the employees do not ‘buck up’ and keep transmission and distribution (TND) losses at a minimal.
Speaking at the decennial celebrations of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) on Wednesday, Karandlaje expressed serious concerns over the functioning of Escoms.
“I am not for privatisation. Having said that, if the company is forced to shut down due to persistent losses and narrow sources of revenue, then there may not be any choice left. We are already running on loans and money raised from various market sources. What can the government do?” she asked in response to a plea of BESCOM Engineers’ Union not to invite private players in the distribution of power. She added that the possibility of turning to private players would be strong if the losses are not drastically cut down and recovery of tariff is not efficient. “Most of the junior and assistant engineers at Escoms have adapted to the existing systems in the state. Despite evidence of T&D losses, few have tried to address the issue,” she rued.
For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.
Now, when BESCOM is supposedly the best performing distribution company in the country, how has this talk come up? Or, is the minister referring to the state DISCOMs other than BESCOM, whose performance is not quite on par with BESCOM? But then, isn't the reason for that the pre-dominance of rural (agricultural) loads on them, leading out of government's cross-subsidy policy, which though is ending up with dismal recovery from all quarters? What does the minister want to do about that?
All of the above apart, is it enough to just recover costs? What about funds for expansion and upgradation, particularly considering the present dismal state, described here? As such, how long more does the minister want to keep postponing the inevitable? Delhi has set a good model now. All that is required now is to build on the learnings thereof.
PS: @ Manivannan Sir - Your 'signature picture' (is there a better term for it?) depicts a non-level playing field? :)))
Minister's comment
To a great extent, DISCOMs are in trouble due to non settlement of dues by state government and farmers, poor subsidy policies such as for IP sets. Resolve these and give the DISCOMS some autonomy and things will easily improve.
asking for the moon
@ Sanjay - I had earlier stated here that "Realising that, once the job is handed over to the private players, they will not be able to continue in their old ways, the politicos have very conveniently retained Lutyen's Delhi under the Delhi Vidyut Board regime. And, they carry on in their old ways, each accumulating bills in their lakhs, in spite of their being based perhaps on old rates, adding to the tax payers' burden".
Let alone pursuing settling of dues by government organisations, the politicos are interested only in adding on their individual burdens also onto the government-run utilities. As such, as long as the utilities remain in government control, there will never be proper autonomy, and consequently, no resolution of the various problems faced.
And, that's quite the problem with almost all government-run agencies and PSU's.