In an effort to decongest the helpline of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) ahead of the onset of monsoon, the number of lines would be doubled from 30, from June 1.
Though additional lines were to be added by June 15, the electricity utility has decided to advance it to June 1, a release said.
However, the utility is expecting that there could be clogging of the lines despite the addition as it found clogging time was up to 70 calls.
As the lines get clogged during the rainy season, the SMS service was introduced a few months ago, it said and added that despite this, the helpline lines were clogged between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. on last Wednesday night when heavy rain lashed the city.
The release said that Bangalore has two months of rainy days with average rainfall of 15 mm.
On Wednesday night, the city received around 36 mm of rainfall.
“That night also saw more than 1,000 complaints being registered through SMS. More than 3,000 complaints were received and nearly 15 per cent of the city areas went without power,” the release said.
Complaints were handled in an average time of one hour and thirty-six minutes, the release added.
Apart from additional lines, Bescom has added 50 more teams to the 110 teams to respond to calls, along with vehicles and equipment.
