Carrying cash not safe,pay bills by cheque: PSPCL ad

Earlier,the bills issued by the PSPCL clearly mentioned that amounts up to Rs 10,000 could be deposited in cash at its centres across Punjab.

The PSPCL claims the rising incidents of power board employees being robbed while shifting cash to banks have led to a reduction in its collection figures. It says the decision will help PSPCL reduce these financial losses.

According to the advertisement,bills amounting to less than Rs 5,000 will be accepted in cash while any higher amount should be paid by cheque.

PSPCL Chief Engineer (Commercial) G S Ghuman alleged that cash had been looted numerous times while being taken to bank. “The situation is bad all over Punjab. Shifting cash was becoming a big problem and hence this decision was taken,” he said.

Consumers,on the other hand,are not happy with the move. They said while power rates were hiked every year,the facilities provided to them were getting limited. “We have police and private security services in Punjab. If the corporation still feels unsafe,they should take other measures,rather than making consumers look for options,” said a consumer.

The Punjab Police are,meanwhile,perturbed over the sudden development,which they said showed them in poor light. Senior officers said the situation was not as alarming in Punjab as was being advertised. “I will bring the matter to the notice of the director general of police as this is something to be sorted out at his level,” said Additional Director General of Police (Crime) Rajan Gupta.

PSPCL Chairman and Managing Director K D Chowdhary could not be contacted for comments.