2 min readChandigarhNov 13, 2016 05:35 AM IST
First published on: Nov 13, 2016 at 05:35 AM IST
THE CHANDIGARH electricity department will set up a round-the-clock centralised call centre in a bid to ensure quick response to the complaints of city residents.
The call centre is part of the ambitious Smart Grid Project under the National Smart Grid Mission, which is being implemented in the city. Presently, for grievances related to power supply, the consumers call on the telephone numbers of their respective sub-divisions.
The consumers face inconvenience due to the time taken in restoring power in case ofd a breakdown. They often complain about numbers being busy or not being answered whenever there is power outage. The complaint numbers are manned by untrained staff. In daily routine, the department receives around 300 complaints.
The centralised call centre will have trained staff to attend to consumer complaints. The call centre will be equipped to feed the complaints lodged by the residents into the database and forward it to the field staff of the sub-division concerned for appropriate action. The call centre will also have the facility to record calls, both incoming and outgoing. After registration of a complaint, consumer will get alert through SMS information them about nature of fault and duration of outage. The operation of the call centre will be outsourced.
UT superintending engineer MP Singh said they were working out the modalities and would submit the proposal to ministry of power and joint Electricity Regularity Commission (JERC) for approval.
Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC) chairman Baljinder Singh Bittu, said centralised call centre would be of great help to residents.
UT Powermen Union general secretary Gopal Dutt Joshi said the department needs to first address the problem of staff shortage if they are serious about providing better services to the consumers. “We don’t have sufficient field staff for timely redressal of complaints of consumers,” said Joshi.
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