The Hindu Business Line : Power supply on low voltage

Quality of Power Supply
An extract from the Charter of a State Transco:
We promise to respond within four hours to a consumer's complaint regarding variations of voltage and frequency of power supply beyond the tolerance limit (as prescribed in Indian Electricity Rules), at the point of commencement of supply.
We promise to improve the quality of power supply within 10 days of receiving the original complaint or furnish a written reply to the customer intimating him/her the causes of poor quality of power supply, if the same is beyond our control.
We promise to resolve within 120 days complaints regarding low voltages arising due to inadequacy in the distribution system requiring upgradation o

It is indeed a sound strategy for the Centre to ensure that most services are delivered under the authority and responsibility of State governments. It is a tribute to the practice of decentralised governance. States thus must bear the brunt of all sorts of customer complaints. Yet, they are not lacking in founding layers of institutions and mechanisms that help push blame vertically and horizontally. Finally, they have the invincible trump card — to point to the Centre being responsible for fundamental resource constraints.

At the end of it all, poor service delivery is neither addressed nor explained.

Capacity expansion

The country's planners and policy-makers have been relentlessly adding power capacity over the years. (See Table 1.) Also, we have been squeezing out capacity as much as possible, as indicated by the rising ratio of production to capacity.

Despite the achievements, here is a telling comment in the Eleventh Plan Approach: "A major constraint in achieving faster growth in manufacturing, which needs immediate attention, is the inadequacy of our physical infrastructure. Our roads, railways, ports, airports, communication and above all electric power supply (emphasis added), are not comparable to the standards prevalent in our competitor countries." (Paragraph 1.6.11 of the Approach Document.)

The grim situation in India with relation to major Asian economies is also indicated by the per capita consumption numbers in Table 2, unless we take pride in our consumption level being higher than that of Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Grim ground reality

Over the years, the share of household use in the total consumption of electricity has risen significantly. From under 10 per cent in the 1970s, the share rose to 25 per cent during 2001-2005.

The nine-year-old Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (established July 1998) "intends to promote competition, efficiency and economy in bulk power markets, improve the quality of supply, promote investments and advise government on the removal of institutional barriers to bridge the demand-supply gap and thus foster the interests of consumers."

What is the ground reality? Not a day goes by without more than one round of power disruption, announced or otherwise. As for voltage fluctuations, they occur any time and with little predictability. With monsoon setting in, the slightest wind and rain means power disruption; it takes, at times, several hours for resumption of supply. The disruptions and fluctuations may help the suppliers of generators and stabilisers, but is otherwise a severe drain on the economy.

The typical State level organisations responsible for delivery are a transmission corporation and one or more distribution companies, all functioning within the framework of a State Electricity Regulatory Commission. If public management pundits thought that government institutions reincarnating as corporations and companies would surely deliver higher levels of service, then they are only partly right as neither transmission nor distribution has been placed within a fully competitive market framework. In the absence of competition, the corporation or company is nothing but a monopoly.

Citizen's Charter

The citizen charter of a typical transmission/distribution company will have the public declaration on service assurance to consumers, in general, and to those paying bills regularly, in particular.

The matter in the accompanying box illustrates what the charter promises the citizen with regard to service quality. Similar guidelines are also given with regard to billing discrepancies, fuse off calls, metering and meter replacement, disconnections and reconnections.

Missing Lines

It is notable that there is no mention about aiming at least for minimal disruptions and zero voltage fluctuations in citizen charters, the Central or State electricity laws or the Rules framed by Regulatory Commissions — notwithstanding the terribly frustrating helplessness that envelops all hapless consumers subjected to the vagaries of power supply.

No one in a position of responsibility at any level of government, at the Centre or the States, has dared to give a date by which household generators and stabilisers will go. That summarises the `power' situation from the household consumer point of view.

(The author, formerly with the National University of Singapore and the World Bank, is Professor Emeritus, GITAM Institute of Foreign Trade, Visakhapatnam and Visiting Faculty, Sri Sathya Sai University, Prashanti Nilayam. He can be reached at bhanoji@gmail.com)

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