A large number of residents in the city who have applied for single and three-phase connections have complained that they are being sent from pillar to post to find out the status of their connection.
The shortage of single and three-phase meters have resulted in domestic consumers being unable to get electricity connections for more than a month. It is mainly domestic consumers in the city who have been badly affected.
A.S. Balaji, a resident of Thandurai near Avadi, said he had applied for a single-phase connection more than a month ago but is yet to get the meter. He said he had paid the security deposit and other charges for getting the connection more than a month ago.
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Mr. Balaji rued that the delay in fixing the meter had forced him to pay higher electricity charges on commercial rates, as only after the meter is fixed would it be possible to get a permanent connection.
High demand
Like Mr. Balaji, hundreds of residents in the city are waiting for electricity meters, that too, three-phase meters, which are supposed to be in high demand, for getting a permanent electricity connection. Even consumers wanting to have commercial power connections are forced to wait for longer periods because of the shortage.
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‘Orders issued’
A senior official of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said the procurement of both the single and three-phase meters had to be delayed as the quality certificate from the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) took longer to get. However, purchase orders for both the meters have been issued recently and the backlog in fixing the meters would be over by the end of this month.
The Tangedco official said more than 13,000 service connections are waiting for meters in north Chennai and 15,000 in south Chennai.
The official also said that consumers have the facility of purchasing their own meters and install it. He said: “But consumers would have to buy in the open market at a higher cost.”