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In addition to the severe debt of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) of Rs. 18,000 crores, there is now another crisis. Several meters installed across homes in Chennai are faulty.
Either thousands of Chennai residents are paying way more than they should be, or are paying too less, chipping away at tax payers’ money.
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The private vendor who supplied the fault meters, is seeking to replace the faulty meters but is not being allowed to do so. And has not been paid what is due.
Capital Power Systems, a Noida-based firm involved with procurement and supply of single-phase meters for domestic use, had supplied 7,20,000 meters during 5 years between 2011-2015 to TANGEDCO. Of this 1,20,000 were found to be faulty.
Before the meters are paid for, the government agency carries out a testing process. A three tier system of testing out the meters within the private company, then sending the meters to inspection officers. TANGEDCO steps in by testing three random samples and sending them to the CRPI in Bangalore.
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In the case of 1,20,000 meters which were delivered in one phase, 2 out of 3 samples were found to be faulty
Based on an RTI filed by Capital Power Systems, the company accessed information on the meters that were in use. The company gave the option of replacing these meters. But TANGEDCO has neither replaced these meters nor paid them the amount of money of 9.5 crore rupees. TANGEDCO is still receiving revenue from the usage of these faulty meters across homes. While consumers pay their bills and taxes, some of them could just be victims to these faulty meters.
For over 3 years, consumers have been paying for faulty meters which TANGEDCO has not bothered to replace or pay the vendor.
The new ruling party says that all power crisis has been handled now. But if these faulty meters are still in no use and the government doesn't take any step towards it, then we would be still following a fraudulent system.
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