Cash transaction at the bill collection centre of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation has become a lot easier for residents in the western parts of the city. The bill collection centres have been provided with counterfeit money detector machines to identify fake notes, thereby even reducing the transaction time to a great extent.
Residents of Padi and Mogappair still remember the staff at the centres turning them away to bring cheques for bills above Rs.2,000, as they did not have machines to check forged notes, particularly notes of denomination Rs.500 and Rs.1,000. “We were even asked to write our service connection numbers on Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes. Some people would even get into an argument with the staff fearing misuse of their details,” said V.R.Gopal, a resident of Mogappair. But, this was against the Reserve Bank of India’s campaign against writing on the white space on the notes, he added.
Close to 60 machines were given to collection centres in the western parts of the city, including at Padi, Korattur, Anna Nagar and Mogappair. “We have not found any forged notes so far and have cross-checked with the banks where we deposit the cash,” said an official of TANGEDCO. Each centre would have got one or two counterfeit note detectors depending on the customer base they serve. An official said that nearly 80,000 consumers would have benefitted from the move.
