How many times have you tried to reach the Fuse off Call Centres of Tangedgo and been frustrated by a constant engaged tone? If residents are unable to reach the designated numbers to complain about power disruptions it could be that the telephone operator is simply not ‘available’.
This has lead to a double whammy of sorts whereby the local officials have to attend calls from the customers at odd hours or face the wrath of the senior officials if they do not attend the calls.
A middle-level official of Tangedco said local officials like assistant engineers and assistant executive engineers have been forced to take the additional burden of receiving complaints from customers particularly during night time, as the telephone operator manning the FOC is absent.
The FOC centre numbering a total of 76 in the city serves as the nodal office for three to four divisions for servicing complaints regarding power cuts. All the FOCs have a telephone operator, people work in three shifts, to receive complaints of power failures.
Tangedco has outsourced the posts to a private agency. However, local officials complain that the telephone operators, who are paid Rs. 120 per shift, are temporary workers who feel the salary is a meagre one.
Going into the importance of having an experienced telephone operator who knows the locality served well, the official said frequent transfers of operators makes it hard for officials to ensure smooth services. The official also blamed that in some FOCs the contractor have not appointed any operators because of delays in clearing bills.
A senior official of Tangedco, denying that there was any shortage of telephone operators in any FOC in the city, said that they have been maintaining 90 per cent efficiency in responding to complaints.
The remaining 10 per cent could be attributed to a few FOCs where telephone operators do not prefer to be posted because of the abusive calls they receive, he added.