Franchisee bound by terms and conditions
Mawkyrwat: South West Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Isawanda Laloo on Thursday asked the MePDCL to inquire into any cases related to unreasonable escalation of bills as alleged by the Mawkyrwat Electricity Consumer Forum (MECF) and other problems which have cropped up after the handing over of electricity services to the Odhisa-based firm FEDCO.
The decision was made during a meeting convened by the DC at her office in Laitlawsang with all concerned stakeholders regarding the way forward with respect to the role of the distribution franchisee FEDCO which was appointed by the MePDCL to act as its franchisee to improve consumer satisfaction, ensure reliability of power supply and proper metering including timely billing and collection.
The meeting was attended by the leaders of MECF including the chairman, Wallambok Syiemiong and officials of MePDCl among others. Laloo informed that the MECF had raised concerns about the bills generated by the FEDCO in the last three months, citing ambiguity and unreasonable escalation of bills.
However, Laloo assured the MECF that the areas of concern will be looked into and asked the MePDCL to inquire into any cases where the franchisee has not fulfilled conditions as alleged.
Laloo has urged the agitating MECF leaders to make a decision only after a thorough analysis and assessment of the problem areas is done and to not reject FEDCO outright just because of certain misgivings to which the MEPDCL officials assured that all issues of concerned will be looked into and addressed.
The MECF had objected to the FEDCO franchisee on the grounds of apprehension of increased billing, lack of clarity about the role of MePDCL, appointment of staff, capability of the franchisee and the fact that the input-based franchisee system has been put in place only in Mawkyrwat and not in other parts of the state.
The MECF also raised concerns about the performance of the franchisee in the last three months.
The officials of the MePDCL clarified that the system of input-based franchisee system had been introduced in five electrical sub-divisions in the state with an objective to improve the delivery of services to the general public after roping in a project management consultant and going through an open tender process.
It was clarified that the FeDCO as a franchisee of the MePDCL is still bound by terms and conditions of an MoU and that the tariff that would be charged for electricity consumption is the same as done by the MePDCL as per the tariff approved by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
MECF Chairman Wallambok Syiemiong said that the forum demanded that the MePDCL should immediately distribute the electricity bills to the public in its name until the matter is solved so that it will not affect the general public.