Gurgaon’s discom staff will invite action for avoiding calls

Discom officials who do not attend calls after power outages may invite departmental action from the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).

As power cuts have increased in Gurgaon, the officials and field staff have been directed not to miss calls from consumers in case of power cuts or fault in lines. Those not attending to consumers’ woes will be asked to explain the reason and may face action in case the explanation is not satisfactory, DHBVN chief engineer (operations) Delhi zone, Balwant Singh, said.

Singh said there are several complaints from consumers that officials and field staff did not respond to calls whenever there are outages. The number of such complaints increased in the last week when the discom employees were on strike against the decision to sack contractual staff and privatisation of 23 sub-divisions of the DHVBN and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN).

The order will be applicable for engineers, sub-divisional officers and ground staff, including linemen.

“It is impossible to live in this heat without power supply. Consumers have no one else to go to than the discom staff in case of power cuts. It is an advisory for all to attend to consumers’ calls and violation may invite action,” Singh said.

The chief engineer said erring officials will have a chance to give an explanation. “Some officials and employees are usually overworked and may miss calls in the night. But, a satisfactory explanation is required to evade action,” Singh said. Repeated violators may be charge sheeted, he said. However, no action has been initiated against any employee as of now.

An official seeking anonymity said there are toll-free number for complaints as well as separate phone numbers for different areas.

The power consumption had peaked at 251 lakh units on Friday and discom officials expected it to reach 260 lakh units on Monday.