My email of complaint to the MD of BESCOM, and his prompt response

I emailed Mr Pandey, the MD of BESCOM, as follows:

Dear Mr Pandey, 

I am a very ordinary consumer, and here are the details about me. 

Name: Mrs Deepa Mohan, 

Address: xxxxx 

Consumer no: xxxx

For the past several years,  I  have been using the ECS facility to pay our power bills, and have never once been in arrears. Also, we took the ECS option to prevent our power supply being disconnected, since we travel a lot. 

On the 25th of October,  when I was  abroad,  our power supply was disconnected, and five days later, a lineman appeared at our doorstep. Fortunately, my maid had just come to do a clean up of the empty house.  He said that unless Rs 1600 was paid, he would not reconnect the electricity. She borrowed some money and paid it, and the power was reconnected after 5 days, during which time much of the contents of the freezer had been spoilt.  When I returned on the 7th of November from our trip abroad, I  found that a small piece of paper had been given as a receipt for the amount. Luckily, my maid kept it carefully and gave it to me. 

I am told that this paper is very important to recover the deposit at a later date or transfer. But in our absence, this paper could very easily have been lost. 

I went to both the Bangalore One office nearby and then the Customer Center nearb, but no one was able to explain to me why I had to suddenly pay Rs 1600, and why, if it was necessary, the amount could not be deducted from my bank account as usual.  

Also, when we have never been in arrears, why was our electricity disconnected with no prior notice, especially when we were not there to pay the amount, and also when it could have been deducted from our bank account if necessary? 

We take objection to this kind of behaviour on the part of the BESCOM lineman, and I would appreciate a reply from you, explaining why we had to undergo this unnecessary harassment and hardship. 

I have looked at the BESCOM website and have made the complaint on the regular format. But since I am quite upset about the cavalier way in which our power was disconnected, I am also writing this to you. 

Thanking you,

Mrs Deepa Mohan

 

Docket No: N0S6A80170 

Your complaint’s category is : N – GENERAL

Which will be resolved within the date & time : 19/Nov/2014 08:16 PM   

Docket generated on 12/Nov/2014 08:16 PM

 

He responded by email within a few minutes, marking my email to the General Manager, Mr Ramdas, asking him to look personally into the matter.

I am hoping for a quick investigation (and hopefully, a refund of my deposit).

Comments:

  1. Usha Srinath says:

    Had a similar experience with Mr Inapur, AE at BTM layout. Repeated visits/phone calls to rectify wrong billing had no response. Serendipitously, Mr Inapur picked up the phone 2 days back, processed the bill on the computer and had it home delivered to me in an hour. Plus followed it up with a phone call to find out if I had received it! It is people like this who keep quasi governmental organizations like BESCOM functioning. Another take away from this is, when the junior level delays action, it usually works to take the complaint to a higher authority.

  2. Deepa Mohan says:

    Well, I have not yet heard from the General Manager…hoping that the matter is resolved satisfactorily, because as far as I can see, I do not need to pay the deposit.

  3. BhaskarReddy N says:

    Hi Deepa,
    Have you checked if there is any MSD (Minimum security deposit) mentioned in your bill hard copy or on Bescom website.
    They revise this amount once in a while. And the amount depends on monthly usage.
    I received a bill with MSD amount as Rs 800 (apart from the regular bill, this amount printed down below). On bescom website also a separate payment option was provided to pay this MSD.
    This is a refundable deposit. I don’t think they can deduct this amount automatically from Bank as this is not regular bill.
    Check your bill hard copy or bsecom website for details of this additional bill.

  4. Deepa Mohan says:

    Yes…I checked, there was nothing due. In any case, ECS consumers are not supposed to have a disconnection in any case, as the MD mentioned in his email to the General Manager (who has still not responded.)

  5. skeptic says:

    Dear Ms Deepa, Once your problem is resolved, please do publish a complete followup which should indicate the root cause of the problem and steps taken by BESCOM to prevent such an occurrence for others, otherwise this will just be a “one-off” solution and of no value to the public at large. Thanks.

  6. Sriram Narayanaswamy says:

    I think BESCOM should compensate you monetarily for making you borrow money in an emergency for the out-of-turn payment request, plus for the contents of your freezer, and for clear deficiency of service. Perhaps the consumer courts will look kindly upon your case and impose punitive damages upon BESCOM?

  7. Mahipati Haridas says:

    Hi Sir/Madam,
    I am really frustrated with the BESCOM service, since there is no power supply from last 2 days despite of several complaints.
    Docket number : A0E7BFGQ24 on 18-12-2016 @ 12:30 pm
    A0E7BFHL98 on 18-12-2016 @ 21:37 pm
    A0E7BFHT93 on 19-12-2016 @ 09:00 am

    I expect it to be fixed by now, but still not. Last time also I faced similar issue, that time I suggested to have it fixed permanently instead of extending the cable from the pole.
    I expect your quick response on the same.

    Thanks,
    Haridas

  8. Firdose Banu says:

    Reg: Gross Metering RR#EH50819A/C I’d 6304513000 SRTPV elc gen bill amount since May2017 has not been credited my a/c. There is no positive response from your Girinagar subdivision and also from your corporate office.Please help me getting d arrears of bill and regular repayment of monthly gross metering bill and oblige. Thanking You

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