The woes of electricity consumers here does not stop with long hours of power cut – there is a delay in getting power supply connection because of shortage of single phase meters.
Several consumers who are constructing new houses or buildings are waiting for power supply for more than 10 days because of the shortage.
An official of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) told The Hindu that there was a shortage in availability of meters for the last two months. However, the corporation received about 5,000 meters recently and the pending applications (about 5,000) in the zone would be cleared soon. Consumers also had the option of purchasing the meters from authorised outlets. The supply of meters was expected to pick-up in the coming days. Another official said that in Coimbatore city, electricity connections were given till February. Apart from meeting the demand from new applicants, meters were also needed for replacements.
K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, said that Coimbatore region was facing meter shortage for almost four years now. The Tangedco had to pay compensation of nearly Rs. 4 crore to the consumers here because of the delay in giving power supply due to the shortage. Though consumers had the option of purchasing from authorised outlets, the cost of the meters was high when purchased from the outlets and they had to pay deposit to the Tangedco too. This discouraged them from purchasing from the outlets.
The Tangedco should take efforts to ensure that meters were available not only for the present needs but also for the next few months. This used to be the practice earlier, he said.
