Consumer forum will be improved, says KERC chief

Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) Chairman M R Sreenivasa Murthy on Friday said consumer redressal grievances forum (CRGF), begun on February 20, will be improved based on customer feedback.

He said the Karnataka Electricity Governance Network (KEGN) was striving to address complaints of customers at their doorstep and asserted that all complaints and suggestions made by consumers and civil society groups will be acted upon to improve CRGF. He said that most complaints pertain to inadequate supply in rural areas. The biggest grievance of farmers is that they do not get six hours of power supply in the day. Bangalore, compared with other cities, is doing well in redressal of grievances.

At the workshop on ‘Civil Society Participation in Electricity governance’ organised by KEGN, citizens pointed that there was no specific platform to connect with KEGN and power corporations. 

Over 90 per cent of accidents which occur concern consumers, but are not addressed. They also demanded a common forum where consumers could interact with officials freely urging engineers concerned be present on site to hear grievances. They also requested authorities to post details of all grievance meetings on social networking sites so that if timely action is not taken, officials concerned are taken to task. 

Bescom receives around 3,000-3,500 complaints every day on its helpline (080-22873333).