With the objective of bringing about qualitative improvement in power services by the power department and also spread awareness about rights and responsibilities among consumers, the Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was set up as per The Electricity Act,2003.
Disclosing this in an interview to Nagaland Post here today, chairman of the NERC Er. S. I. Longkumer also admitted that lack of proper information among consumers about their rights on one hand and on the other hand, certain failings at certain levels in the power department, needed to be addressed
Enunciating on the role and objective of the NERC, Longkumer felt that an empowered consuming public would help to ensure that the power department provided the service due to consumers.
He lamented that the department also faced problems arising out of huge losses in revenue to the extent of 50% due to power thefts, pilferage and tampering etc.
Longkumer said though much had been said about the revenue losses etc, no serious effort had been made by the department. In this regard, he lauded the initiative undertaken by current Commissioner and Secretary Power L.Kire who took up the matter seriously by supervising the recent surprise checks on power theft and meter tampering etc especially in Dimapur.
Longkumer disclosed that the NERC comprised of 17 members with him as ex-officio chairperson.
At the state level, he said a state coordination forum was constituted with him as chairperson and commissioner & secretary power as member along with four other officials.
At the district level, the DC of a district heads the district coordination committee with other four members. Longkumer expressed the hope that the district committees would be expanded to include even representatives of some NGOs and church.
Among the points that was stressed by the chairman NERC Er. Longkumer was for registration of complaints by consumers which required the department to act within the stipulated period as prescribed draft NERC (Standards of Performance for the Distribution and Transmission of the Licensee) Regulation, 2011.
He said a public notice had also been issued in the local newspapers on August 9, 2011 and also solicited public views and suggestions within a period of 45 days through the District Committees in the respective districts.
NERC has also made regulations that the department should register every complaint lodged by a consumer, either verbally or in written, regarding failure/interruption of power supply, quality of power supply, meters/meter boxes/metering system’s service line, payment of bills and other services related to power supply. The NERC has also prescribed allotment of unique number for every complainant.
Under chapter 4 of the NERC draft, ‘Guaranteed Standards of Performance for Distribution’, the department has to restore power within 6 working hours on receipt of complaints in urban areas and 24 hours in rural areas. In case the department failed to look into the complaint, it will have to pay penalty of Rs.5 to the consumer for every one hour to a maximum of Rs.50 per day in case of default. In rural and remote areas the penalty amount is Rs.20 per consumer per day subject to Rs.50 beyond one day. In case of line/cable breakdowns, the penalty for delay is Rs.10 per consumer per day beyond 24 hours and if the number of affected consumers is less than 50 then the rate will be Rs.5 per consumer per day subject to a maximum of Rs.50 per consumer.
In case of distribution failure, the penalty for delay is Rs.20 per consumer for delay beyond one day to maximum of Rs.100 per consumer. In rural and remote areas, the penalty will be Rs.10 per consumer doe delay beyond 5 days subject to a maximum of Rs.100 per consumer.
Among others, NERC stipulated that in case of transformer breakdown, the department shall restore power supply within 48 hours of receiving complaints in towns and cities and within five (5) days in rural areas.
The chairman NERC also said in view of manpower constraints, it would be practicable to communitise power sector in Nagaland.
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